DNR Gives OK to Run Sewer Main Under Medalie Park; South Airport & More Road Work Coming

A last-ditch effort to prevent a new $1.77 million sewer main from potentially having to be torn up in a few years has proven successful. At a special meeting Wednesday, Grand Traverse County commissioners approved allowing the new main – which is replacing undersized pipe below South Airport Road that cracked and leaked sewage this summer – to run under Medalie Park instead of the road right-of-way. That will ensure the main doesn’t have to be ripped out or redone when the South Airport crossing is eventually reconstructed.

The pipe work will impact South Airport traffic starting next week – one of a handful of final road projects before the snow flies. Garfield Township trustees recently approved a contract with Team Elmer’s to replace approximately 1,400 feet of pipe stretching from near Logan’s Landing up the hill to the Park Drive intersection. The pipe, which currently serves approximately 2,500 customers with a peak hourly flow of 700 gallons per minute, will be replaced with a bigger main with a capacity of 1,400 gallons per minute.

Jennifer Graham of Gourdie Fraser, the township’s engineer, previously said the goal is to ensure the new pipe can meet future population growth so the project only has to be done once. However, to ensure that’s actually the case, the Grand Traverse County Road Commission (GTCRC) subsequently asked the township to keep the new pipe out of the road right-of-way. GTCRC and Garfield Township officials are on a steering committee with numerous other stakeholders working on a new design for the South Airport Road crossing, with the bridge likely raised in the future so it’s out of the river floodplain.

A water main already runs along the south side of South Airport, and the water and sewer lines can’t run together, Township Supervisor Joe McManus explained Wednesday. Therefore, the only other place to run the new sewer main is under the county-owned Medalie Park. Township staff initially believed they only had to get permission to do that from the county’s Parks and Recreation commission, which recently reviewed the project. However, because the main requires an easement – considered a type of property disposal – county commissioners ultimately had to approve the agreement.

Further complicating matters is that Medalie Park has received several Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) grants. Such grants often have conditions attached that place encumbrances on properties, including for easements. One DNR grant for Medalie Park has such a restriction, said County Director of Parks and Facilities John Chase. In order to not risk having to repay the grant or jeopardize the county’s chances of receiving future grants, the county must get written approval from the DNR before granting any easements at Medalie Park.

As of Wednesday’s meeting, the county hadn’t yet received that approval. Chase said he was optimistic the DNR would sign off, as the project won’t disturb anything at surface level in the park. The pipe is being installed using trenchless construction methods, which minimize above-ground work. The boring pits will also occur off-site, including on private property off Park Drive and in the road right-of-way.  “I’m hopeful,” Chase said of obtaining DNR approval, though added: “I can’t guarantee it.”

However, the tight timing of the project – the contracted start date is Monday – meant that if the DNR didn’t quickly respond, Garfield Township would have to proceed with putting the pipe under the road. McManus said there was no way to delay the project, as there’s a narrow window left for construction this season. Delaying it to next year could be catastrophic if the pipe failed again over the winter, as South Airport would be shut down with no way to complete asphalt repairs in the cold until spring. Commissioners approved the Medalie agreement, but made any construction work or permanent easements contingent on DNR approval.

Fortunately, that permission came through soon after. Chase told The Ticker Thursday by email: “We have received confirmation from the DNR that the planned underground utility and easement will not cause any compliance issues for the DNR recreation grant.” Crews are now clear to start the project Monday and run the pipe under Medalie.

The work will have significant traffic impacts on South Airport. According to both Township Manager Chris Barsheff and GTCRC Manager Dan Watkins, westbound traffic will be down to one lane on South Airport between Park Drive and west of Logan’s Landing. A small section of Park Drive will also be closed near the South Airport intersection. Vehicles coming from Woodmere Avenue will be able to take Park all the way up to the Gardner White driveway, but won’t be able to turn onto South Airport from Park.

The short north-south connector road that links both sides of South Airport near Verizon will also be closed. Barsheff says westbound South Airport traffic may have to be halted completely at times to allow trucks or equipment to move through the construction zone. Both eastbound lanes of South Airport will remain open, as will Logan’s Landing. The project is expected to take three weeks. Because crews will start staging Monday, the exact timing of when traffic impacts will begin isn’t determined – but will likely be between Monday and Wednesday, Watkins says.

With 60,000 cars a day going through South Airport right now, officials acknowledged the closures will be highly disruptive. But Watkins notes the end of construction season is in sight. Beitner is likely to reopen in the next few weeks, he says. That could provide some relief at South Airport if the timelines overlap, though Watkins says it’d likely only be for the final week of South Airport work, if anything. GTCRC has two other final projects on deck next week: a culvert replacement Monday on South Long Lake Road and a culvert replacement Tuesday on Karlin Road. Both will require detours but will only be one day each, weather permitting.

There’s more good news for residents weary of road closures. Hammond Road reopened Thursday, with GTCRC posting a video of workers pulling traffic cones and dancing to celebrate the completion of the beleaguered project. And in the Grawn/Interlochen area, all detours have been lifted and two-way traffic restored throughout the entire US-31 corridor. James Lake of the Michigan Department of Transportation says some final touches remain, so there could still be a few shoulder or intermittent lane closures, but the project is “on schedule to be done by November 15.”