CRESTVIEW — Preparing engineering plans for an estimated $300,000 project to move city-owned utility lines out of the way of the P.J. Adams Parkway widening project received unanimous City Council approval.
“As part of the requirements for the city, we have to relocate some of our water and sewer utility lines,” Public Works Director Wayne Steele said at the Feb. 8 council meeting.
Steele requested and received the council’s approval to hire Atkins Engineering, one of the city’s contracted engineering firms, to prepare technical plans to move the lines.
The plan preparation will cost $62,421, which will be funded by savings realized by refinancing the city’s utilities bonds.
“The county is ready for the drawings now,” Steele said. “There's going to be some sewer and manholes that have to be moved but probably our biggest challenge is moving water mains. We have to put new ones in. You can't just move them.”
The wider parkway will cover existing lines, necessitating they be moved, because “you certainly don't want water lines under the pavement. You don't want sewer pressure lines under the pavement,” Steele said.
In the event of a line break, workers would have to tear up the street to get to the damaged sections if the lines were under the pavement.
Steele said the city has adequate right-of-way to relocate the lines.
The $300,000 estimate does not include the cost if the city had to relocate an existing sewage lift station, which could cost as much as an additional $700,000 to be rebuilt elsewhere. The city and Okaloosa County Public Works have been working in close cooperation to find a solution around the station.
“I'm being positive and the county has been very good partners in this and I think we can work around it,” Steele said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview approves developing plans for $300K utility work