Main Street water pipe replacement set to begin this week

Residents and visitors coming to downtown Pleasanton will soon notice construction work on the north end of Main Street as crews begin to replace a decades-old, cast-iron water main with modern pipes.

The $2.7 million project, part of the city’s annual water main replacement program, focuses on more than a half-mile of problematic piping below Main Street and Santa Rita Road from St. Mary Street north to Black Avenue.

“The 3,300 linear feet of old cast-iron pipe was installed in the 1960s and rose to the top of the heap in terms of needing replacement as we have made several repairs to this section over the years,” said Steve Kirkpatrick, city engineering director.

Work will be divided into two segments, with the first portion — from the bridge over the Arroyo Del Valle south to St. Mary Street — set to begin next Thursday (Jan. 11) and expected to run through March.

Motorists should anticipate daytime driving delays and parking disruptions during the project, Kirkpatrick said.

The first week of work will see the contractor conduct precautionary and exploratory excavations to determine the exact locations of existing utility lines, such as gas and sewer, according to Kirkpatrick.

Pipeline installation is anticipated to start the following week at the Arroyo Del Valle bridge and then head south in the weeks ahead to St. Mary Street near Pleasanton Gas Station.

All pipeline work should be completed by the end of February, including replacing curb, gutter and sidewalks removed to accommodate the construction, according to Kirkpatrick. Crews are expected to fully wrap up the first segment by the end of March, weather permitting.

Parking restrictions will be posted and parking on Main Street will be prohibited from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. workdays in the under-construction area, Kirkpatrick said. Traffic lanes will reduced to 10 feet in both directions, with traffic shifted to the east. Parking lots and driveways will be open, except when the work is immediately adjacent to them.

“We would like to advise residents to avoid the area if possible and take alternate commutes to and from their destination to ameliorate some of the unavoidable impacts,” he added.

The second segment of the water main replacement will follow in the spring and summer, running from the Arroyo Del Valle bridge north on Main Street until it turns into Santa Rita Road and then extending up Santa Rita to Black Avenue just past the post office.

City officials expect crews will conduct most of the second phase construction during the summer break to minimize impacts on Amador Valley High School traffic, Kirkpatrick said.

San Francisco-based K.J. Woods Construction, Inc., is serving as the general contractor under a contract approved by the Pleasanton City Council on Dec. 5. Funding is primarily coming from the water main replacement project program budget and the city’s water reserve surplus fund.