Water main replacement to partially close Maple Ave.

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- One of the busiest Zanesville streets will soon have some lane closures.

A water main replacement project, set to begin on August 1st, will have two lanes of Maple Avenue shut down for approximately three months.

John Smith, City of Zanesville water metering and maintenance supervisor, said they will be replacing 1,400 feet of 8-inch water main on Maple Avenue from Sheridan Street to McConnell Avenue.

“We’ve projected 63 days, which will probably take us until the end of October maybe first of November,” said Smith.

The two northbound lanes, on the same side of the road as Tee Jayes and Papa John’s, will be blocked off.

This will affect traffic patterns for the busy street. They will divert traffic around the two lanes, allowing two lanes for traveling northbound and one lane for traveling southbound during the limited construction times. (See traffic plan map below)

Construction will take place from 6:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., to allow traffic patterns to return to normal before afternoon rush hour.

“[We will] tear our project down sooner to allow the evening traffic to come through. After 2:30 p.m. we’ll have everything opened back up to normal traffic,” said Smith.

The existing pipe material is being replaced by C900 PVC pipe, a product that is less likely to break. The repair comes after a number of water main breaks over the last several years.

Smith said the current pipe material is a cast iron pipe, that is more prone to allowing iron and manganese to adhere to the inside of the pipe, resulting in a number of problems that lead to a main break.

In addition to the water main replacement, three new fire hydrants will also be installed. An item currently missing from that section of Maple Avenue.