Maple construction project nears completion

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- A water main replacement project on Maple Avenue has made traffic a bit tricky the last couple of months, but it may soon be wrapping up.

The project began in August to replace 1,400 feet of 8 inch water main on Maple Avenue from Sheridan Street to McConnell Avenue. John Smith, City of Zanesville Water Metering and Maintenance Department Supervisor, says the replacement was projected to finish up at the end of October, but drivers could see it ending sooner.

“At this point in time we’re about two weeks ahead of schedule. So everything is…went pretty much as we had planned. The weather has really helped us stay on schedule. All-in-all the project so far has went pretty well.”

As the work continues, drivers should continue to practice patience, especially between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. when crews will most likely be working. For now, one lane is closed on each side of the street, but the southbound lanes are experiencing most of the construction.

“Right now we are replacing concrete and asphalt in the main ditch line and we’ve got about 400 feet left to do on the north end of this project. And then we’ve got 14 boring and receiving pits that had to be put down because of the boring process we did here which is in the southbound lanes.”

Smith says 25 service connections on the line have been replaced and 3 fire hydrants have been added to the stretch of road. Despite the construction businesses along the stretch of road stayed open and are happy the project will soon be ending.