The intersection of South Airport and Cass has reopened in Traverse City as of Thursday morning, including the right-turn lane from South Airport to Cass that has been closed for several months.

Crews have been working at the intersection this week on emergency repairs connected to a sewer main. According to Grand Traverse County Public Works Director Noah Karberg, when the site was excavated this week, crews discovered a section of broken sewer main. That break is separate from another break that occurred last summer when a contractor drilled into the main accidentally.

The new broken section "was approximately 30 inches in length and abutted the sewer manhole directly under the mast arm holding the South Airport Road sign," Karberg tells The Ticker. "It was repaired with a 52-inch length of PVC (specifically SDR-35) and connected by a Fernco coupling to the clay main and grouted into the manhole."

The temporary repair is expected to hold for the summer, with crews planning to revist the site after Labor Day. They will then undertake a longer-term fix called pipe bursting. The trenchless repair pulls a specialized bursting head through the old pipe, which then expands and splits and makes room for new pipe to be installed in its place. That was the option DPW had hoped for, Karberg says, as it's less invasive, will have fewer impacts to the road, and will require fewer lane closures since work is mostly underground.

Karberg says he's grateful to DPW and GT County Road Commission staff, Garfield Township officials, and Gordie-Frasier Inc. for their assistance on the project. He also higlights Team Elmer's, who "accomplished the repair amongst challenging site conditions during the hottest day of the year," he says. "They were on site for 15 hours on Tuesday."

Photo credit: GT County Road Commission