~ The only traffic problems that could occur would be along Bainbridge Road, Oak Hill Road and Kidron Street.

The city of Jackson plans to begin an $800,000 major sewer project that will provide public sewers to property owners near Williams Creek, officials announced Tuesday.

"This is something that has been on our facilities plan for almost 10 years," Jackson public works director Rodney Bollinger said. "This is a top project, and we're finally getting to it."

Work is expected to begin Dec. 4 on building a mile-long stretch of new sanitary sewer main, Bollinger said. Properties along Bainbridge Road, Oak Hill Road, East Main Street and Kidron Street are among those where new sewers are to be installed. PR Developers Inc., of Cape Girardeau, has been contracted by the city to complete the project. Bollinger said the work should be done by April.

The work in general consists of constructing about 8,200 lineal feet of 8- to 12-inch diameter sanitary gravity sewers. That will allow the city to abandon three existing pump stations, which Bollinger said are difficult to maintain.

The project is being financed through the Missouri State Revolving Fund, established by the state of Missouri General Revenue Appropriations and Federal Capitalization Grants to Missouri. The money is administered by the state's Department of Natural Resources. Voters also passed an $11 million bond issue in 1997 to help finance such projects, Bollinger said.

The city gathered easements from about 30 property owners, Bollinger said.

Added benefit

But the work will also benefit businesses and property owners near the new Interstate 55/East Main Street Interchange.

"Some of these properties we're going through don't have public sewers," Bollinger said. "When we're done, they can abandon their private septic systems and hook into our newer systems."

Bollinger estimated that 75 percent of the property owners involved were not on any public system.

The city's contractor will include initial walk-throughs, surveying and staking of the sewer line alignments, construction of the sewer line, backfilling operations and property restoration.

Bollinger said there may be a certain amount of inconvenience to residents and business owners in the area. There will be increased construction traffic, machine noise, dirt and debris that accompany any type of significant improvement project, he said. But construction shouldn't have a large impact on traffic, he said. The only traffic problems that could take place would be along Bainbridge Road, Oak Hill Road and Kidron Street during the day and only if the contractor needs to unload material or move equipment across the road.

Work will begin near Trail Bridge subdivision, which south and west of Bainbridge Road and will move north along the west side of Williams Creek under the new East Main extension. The work will end in Ridge Subdivision on the north side of the city. A total of 210 consecutive calendar days are allowed for the contractor to finish the work.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137