The underground utilities beneath Main Avenue in downtown Durango don’t need stents or bypasses – they need “open-heart surgery,” said Public Works Director Bret Hodne.
The utility lines are at least a decade beyond their 50-year life expectancy, Hodne said. It’s not a question of if they will fail, but when.
He told Durango City Council during a May retreat that outdated cast iron water, sewer and stormwater lines were installed in a way that entire downtown blocks lose water access when repairs are needed.
Many water service lines are linked in daisy-chain configurations, meaning a single break can disrupt service to multiple businesses.
Even fire hydrants on Main Avenue are past their service life, with many installed before 1974, he said.
During his presentation, Hodne showed a photo of a hydrant installed in 1953 that has been marked with a “not in service” collar.
The city isn’t facing a “catastrophic” failure, he said, but critical breaks could occur at any time.
“Basically, we’ve got a lot of work to do here,” he said.
The city has no idea what it will cost or how long it will take to cut open Main Avenue and perform the “open-heart surgery” required to upgrade the underground infrastructure.
Hodne said the work will be “significant.”
So far, only two blocks have been designated for water and sewer line replacements. Hodne said the work will require potholing and ground-penetrating radar to locate underground utilities and buried obstacles such as coal shafts and boulders.
Cost estimates will be available once final designs are completed, which could happen within the next year.
Impacts to Main Avenue are a key concern for business owners, some of whom have voiced repeated concerns about Downtown’s Next Step – a proposal to widen sidewalks and improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists.
Opponents argue the project threatens downtown’s historic character. They also fear construction will impede access to storefronts and shutter businesses.
City officials have stressed that infrastructure beneath Main Avenue between Fifth and 14th streets must be upgraded, and said it makes sense to improve the streetscape when asphalt and concrete have already been cracked open, and not after it’s resealed.
At a Next Step meeting with business owners earlier this month, Laura Rieck, public works spokeswoman, said the city is pursuing a full reconstruction of Main Avenue, starting with utilities and progressing to the streetscape.
“It’s all happening at the same time so we don’t have to come back for 30, 40, 50 years,” she said.
At the retreat, councilors asked why infrastructure maintenance was deferred so long. Hodne said the primary reason was to avoid disrupting downtown businesses.
He said the city plans to study how other municipalities maintained business access during similar utility projects.
“It doesn’t have to look like a war zone,” he said. “We’ll be able to network with other communities and learn from some of what they’ve experienced.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
