Collapsed sewer pipe causing big headaches

A portion of E Avenue NW has been ripped up since a large storm sewer pipe collapsed in the summer of 2009, and not a day goes by that Purvish Patel doesn't look at it and groan.

“Twenty-four-hour headache, that's what it's like,” said Patel, who owns a Cenex gas station along the damaged road. “Because when I open this door, it's like, ‘When is this going to get done?'”

Since the collapse, half of the road has been closed to traffic, and Patel said that has taken a toll: 50 percent of his business has disappeared.

“Going through E Avenue, people have taken alternate routes to get to their destination,” he said.

The city's Public Works Department said the reason for the delay is that fixing the road will require the replacement of its underlying structure - 110-year-old brick stretching about 10 blocks. Officials have nailed down $9 million in grant funding but are still working on the in-depth design phase.

“It will be replacing this brick structure underground and replacing it with a concrete structure and a new road on top, so you'll see a new E Avenue by the time we get done,” Public Works Maintenance Manager Craig Hanson said.

In the meantime, the city has patched the broken pipe and is asking drivers and business owners like Purvish for their patience. The plan calls for construction to begin next spring and finish during the summer of 2013.

“As we work through this the next couple of years, there will be additional delays and disruptions,” Hanson said.

The road and the storm sewer pipe caved in two years ago due to age and the effects of the floods of 2008.