Rosalia project requires water, sewer line checks

The Whitman Avenue reconstruction project in Rosalia got underway earlier this month, and the mayor reported this week that it is progressing well.

“It's moving along pretty much right on schedule,” said Mayor Nanette Konishi.

The project has not hit any big snags, she said, but there has been an issue that has surfaced with water lines.

“One of the difficulties, if we could call it that, was that there were water and sewer lines that we didn't exactly know what or who they were serving,” said Konishi.

The water line issue came up when construction crews dug up the lines and discovered a four-inch line that appeared to still be active.

“We found out that it's still live, but whether it just got left the last time we did water lines or it's actually serving someone, we don't know,” said Konishi.

The crews are planning to re-do the water lines so that they are all between eight and 12 inches, but before the four-inch line can be removed, verification needs to be made that it is not serving anyone.

“We're hunting back through old paperwork and plans,” said Konishi.

The hunt for the nature of that line has not caused any delays to the project. The construction crew is still able to go ahead with the new installation, but will potentially need to make sure that residences served by the four-inch line are connected to the new one, if there are any connected to it.

“We have not seen any major effects or heard of major issues,” said Konishi. “They've been tearing up the old material, and they're at the edge of that right now and working on putting in the new water lines.”

There is an issue she would like to address, though. In the days before the project, traffic counters were set up on the roads to gain a better understanding of how traffic would be impacted.

“We were very surprised at how much traffic we're getting into town,” said Konishi.

Whitman Avenue is currently closed, and it is expected to remain closed between Eighth Street and the town limits through Sept. 1. Detours are set up from the south entrance and exit using Josephine Avenue.

Konishi said she wants to make sure that people are aware of the closures and the precautions that need to be taken near the construction zone and all around the town.

“I was standing out near the street the other night, and someone came zipping down the road at at least 35,” she said. “And that was near the construction zone. We need to caution people to slow down.”

Konishi has asked the Sheriff's department to conduct extra patrols and to issue citations to speeding drivers.

“We have too many people driving too fast through town,” she said. “It's alarming.”

Despite the issue with speeding drivers, Konishi said she is happy overall with the progress of the project.

“I'm just glad it's going smoothly so far,” she said. “It's fun to see the citizens sitting in their lawn chairs watching the progress. It's its own kind of entertainment.”