Repair work on 120-year-old pipe will close Cherokee Parkway for months

The diversion signs were put up in the Cherokee Triangle on Monday as MSD crews begin work on a 120-year-old pipe buried under the road. “It’s made of bricks. It takes some tender love and care now,” said MSD spokeswoman Sheryl Lauder For Lauder, it is part of the MSD Connects project, which is working to rehabilitate some of the city’s oldest sewers. The need for rehab was discovered in January when Cherokee Parkway closed for an emergency repair of the pipe. Public safety had to be fixed immediately to prevent it from collapsing, “Lauder said. The hope is that this rehab will help that Extend the life of the pipe and prevent future emergency repairs. Screws fix the pipe from the inside so you don’t have to break open the fresh patch. “They pull out dirt and clean it up the pipe and then will put a thick epoxy coating on the inside and it will basically creating a new pipe inside the old pipe that will lead it into the next century, “said Lauder. Greg Bayers has lived in the highlands now and then for the past 30 years. He sometimes walks his dog around twice a day He had a front row seat for work in January. “They seemed to be going pretty quickly and there weren’t any major traffic incidents, except a little rush hour mornings and evenings, but it wasn’t that bad. “Bayers said. Cherokee Parkway will be closed between Grinstead Drive and Willow Avenue for the duration of the project. Though a bit awkward, Bayers says it’s something he expects as the city’s infrastructure continues to age. “This is an old neighborhood. Everything has to be replaced at some point,” said Bayers. The closure is expected to occur through July, but weather could affect this timeline. “The problem and complication with that is we’re in an older part of town so a pipe is treating sewage and rainwater,” said Lauder. That means every time it rains, crews have to be pulled out of the pipe until it is safe to resume work. Lauder says there will be no disruptions to the sewage service during the project.

Diversion signs were posted in the Cherokee Triangle Monday as MSD crews begin work on a 120-year-old pipe buried under the road.

“It is made of bricks. It now takes some tender love and care,” said MSD spokeswoman Sheryl Lauder.

According to Lauder, it’s part of the MSD Connects project, which is working to rehabilitate some of the city’s oldest sewers.

The need for rehab was discovered in January when Cherokee Parkway was closed for an emergency pipe repair.

“It was absolutely essential for public safety to have immediate repairs to prevent it from collapsing,” said Lauder.

The hope is that this rehab will help extend the life of the pipe and prevent future emergency repairs.

The crews repair the pipe from the inside so they don’t have to break open the fresh pavement.

“They remove dirt and clean the pipe and then put a thick epoxy coating on the inside, which basically creates a new pipe inside the old pipe that will take it into the next century,” Lauder said.

Greg Bayers has lived in the highlands again and again for 30 years.

He sometimes walks around with his dog twice a day. He had a front row seat for January work.

“They seemed to be going pretty fast and there wasn’t much traffic, except a little during rush hour mornings and evenings, but it wasn’t that bad,” Bayers said.

Cherokee Parkway will be closed between Grinstead Drive and Willow Avenue for the duration of the project.

Though a bit awkward, Bayers says it’s something he expects as the city’s infrastructure continues to age.

“This is an old neighborhood. Everything has to be replaced at some point,” said Bayers.

The closure is expected to occur through July, but weather could affect this timeline.

“The problem and complication with this is that we’re in an older part of town so a pipe treats sewage and rainwater,” Lauder said.

This means that every time it rains, crews have to be pulled out of the pipe until work can be resumed.

According to Lauder, there will be no interruptions to the sewage service during the project.

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