Weather, sewer line work cause delays

A combination of bad weather and unforeseen sewer line complications has pushed back the expected completion date of the reconstruction of CM Allen Parkway.

Originally expected to be reopened to traffic by the end of next month, the project has now been delayed until late summer.

Gregory Schwarz, senior engineer for the city of San Marcos, said plentiful rains in the fall and early winter account for about two and a half months of lost work time. It’s uncertain when work to replace an aging sanitary sewer line with a new one — along with lateral lines to buildings served — will be completed.

“Right now we’re in a holding pattern,” he said on Tuesday. “If you went out there today, there’s nobody. We are waiting for concrete manholes to be made in a precast plant. Once those get fabricated and delivered to site the contractor will move back in and install the sanitary sewer infrastructure. Once that’s done they will get back to building the road.”

Though the sewer line replacement wasn’t included in the original project, Schwarz said it became apparent it was needed when crews discovered a line made of clay pipe that is decades old. The old pipe, which currently services facilities including the Chamber of Commerce offices, the Old Fish Hatchery and the Cock House, will be removed, Schwarz said, and a new one laid along with new “business laterals.”

“We felt it was important to abandon that line adjacent to the river and make sure that 10 years down the road we’re not redoing CM Allen again.” In all, he said, between 400 and 500 linear feet of sanitary sewer line will be installed. And while the old lines are as little as 3 feet deep in places, the new infrastructure will be 6 feet underground. 

Weather has also been a significant factor, Schwarz said. “They were supposed to have the first layer of asphalt down before Sights & Sounds. With all the rain, they could not do that.”

He explained that following a rain, work can’t immediately start back up. “The site has to dry out for the contractor to get in there and actually do work — even if it rains one day and is sunny the next day or two. You need at least three dry days for the site to dry.

When the project is completed, the roadway will be two lanes, separated, with parallel parking along both sides. Schwarz said 10 or 15 years down the road, the decision could be made to restore the road to four lanes. “In that case, we can just re-stripe it,” he said.