Traverse City commissioners Monday approved an agreement with Garfield Township to move forward with a project to address water pressure issues at the Grand Traverse Commons and expanded the scope of work for a sewer lining project on the west side of the city. Street safety improvements are also on deck in Traverse City, with commissioners approving new guardrail and other upgrades to West Front Street and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) announcing $1.9 million in improvements to four local intersections including Eastern Avenue and M-37/Peninsula Drive.

Water Projects
After over a year of discussions between the city, Garfield Township, and the Recreational Authority – the joint city and township board that oversees the Historic Barns Park – the partners are ready to move forward with a project to address water pressure issues in the Commons district.

City commissioners unanimously approved an agreement with Garfield Township Monday that will allow the project to proceed. As previously covered in The Ticker, the Historic Barns Park (pictured) has been undergoing a $5 million-plus expansion but is not receiving adequate water pressure to serve the development. Planned improvements will ensure proper fire flows can reach the area, which is split roughly half and half between city and township property. Different parts of the land and infrastructure being owned by different parties – in addition to brownfield funding being used to help cover improvement costs – have added layers of complexity as the various project partners worked toward a solution.

“The water is provided by the city water treatment plant and flows out into the township and up to the township water tank on top of Cedar Run Road,” City Attorney Lauren Trible-Laucht explained in a memo. “This project will allow it to flow back down the hill and into the city, creating the pressure needed to serve the Commons area.” Brownfield funds can only go to infrastructure under the control of what’s called a Core Community – which the city is but the township is not – so the agreement outlines how the city will be reimbursed for construction costs from the brownfield.

The city only needs to control the infrastructure until it’s bought and paid for, Trible-Laucht wrote. The agreement provides a period of time to allow the parties to “determine which one should ultimately own and maintain the infrastructure on a long-term basis,” she continued. “Staff will use the next several months while the project is being constructed to study the options going forward for ownership and maintenance of the pressure district and will bring a recommendation to the city commission related to that issue in the near future.”

Commissioners Monday also unanimously approved expanding the scope of work for a sanitary sewer lining project on the west side of the city. The commission awarded a $1.129 million contract this spring to Performance Pipelining Inc. for the work, which includes “lining approximately 6,900 feet of 8-inch to 15-inch diameter old clay sanitary sewer mains on the west side of town,” City Director of Municipal Utilities Art Krueger previously said.

The project aims to reduce inflow and infiltration (I&I), two main culprits plaguing the city’s sewer system. Inflow occurs when water gets into the system through manhole covers or illicit connections from roof drains or basement sump pumps to the system. Infiltration occurs through cracks or loose joints in pipes when surface water seeps into the ground and forces its way into the pipes. I&I issues coupled with major rain events have previously overwhelmed city pipes and caused raw sewage to flow into the Boardman River. Under the expanded scope approved Monday, a 1,750-foot segment of aging clay pipe downtown in the alley south of Front Street from west of Cass Street to Park Street will also be addressed. The change order was for an additional $185,000 (including a 10 percent contingency), with funds coming from the city’s sewer fund. 

“This sewer segment has required frequent and costly maintenance, and lining it will restore both the main sewer and lateral connections, extending their service life by approximately 50 years,” according to Krueger. He tells The Ticker that work began on the lining project three weeks ago, with the Front Street alley work to begin early next week. In addition to lining the sewer main, “we are also lining the sewer service connections at the main and five feet up the service line,” Krueger says. “This is the deepest and most critical portion of the sewer lateral to seal, which combats infiltration from groundwater.”

Safety Improvements
Commissioners Monday voted 5-2 – with Tim Werner and Jackie Anderson opposed – to authorize up to $112,392.56 in safety improvements to West Front Street between Madison Street and the western city limits. The stretch has been the site of multiple accidents over the years, with commissioners approving design work in March with consulting firm Hubbell, Roth & Clark (HRC) for the project, which calls for new guardrail, signage, and pavement markings in the corridor.

Anderson said the improvements represent a “disconnect” from the original problem, as the most recent accident that prompted the commission review involved a westbound vehicle. However, the improvements appear to be geared toward deterring eastbound accidents, Anderson said. She thought lighting and other fixes would be a lower cost and more effective approach. Werner did not discuss the reasons for his opposition Monday but previously pushed for more “creative” solutions than a guardrail, which he said was treating West Front Street like a highway instead of a city street. The Traverse City Arts Commission has been tasked with exploring a possible public art project in the street median in the future as a traffic-calming and placemaking measure.

Also on the safety front, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced this week it will invest $1.9 million in improvements to four local intersections – including one within the City of Traverse City. The project will “upgrade traffic signal equipment, install new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant sidewalk ramps, and replace signs and pavement markings,” according to MDOT. The intersections will include Eastern Avenue and M-37/Peninsula Drive, US-31 at Marketplace Circle/Lowe’s, US-31 at Meijer/Walgreens, and M-72 at Gray/Bugai Road.

Work is expected to start August 11 and continue through November 15. Construction will “require single-lane closures, traffic shifts, sidewalk closures and shoulder closures at various times through the project,” according to MDOT.