Albany Herald

Heavy equipment sit idle Jan. 18, 2013 due to soft ground from a recent rain storm at the work site of the city sewer installation project near Old Dawson Road and Pointe North Boulevard.

ALBANY, Ga. -- The city of Albany is approximately a third of the way into a 90-day contract on a 3,850-foot sanitary sewer extension which will run from Pointe North along Kensington Court.

"The existing sewer lines were put in place in the '60s and '70s and are running at full capacity," Albany Public Works Director Phil Roberson said. "With all the new development in the area, the system is overtaxed. This extension will handle the current load and open up the area for future growth."

Roberson said the existing lines were installed before most of the commercial and business development in the area and before the construction of the Liberty Expressway interchange.

He also noted that small offices and rental property in the area are experiencing some problems because of the limited capacity of existing sewer lines. Those property owners should notice a significant improvement once the project is completed, Roberson said.

The project is expected to be completed in the next 60 days. The $300,000 price tag is funded by Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax VI sewer extension money. The work is being done by Oxford Construction Co. of Albany.

Roberson said the city has received some calls from area reisdents wondering if sewer lines were going to be installed west out Old Dawson Road. That is not the case, he said.

"We're just doing this release sewer program to allow for additional commercial growth in the corridor," the Public Works director said.

Future plans in the area, according to Roberson, are for the city to mill and resurface Old Dawson Road from Westover Boulevard to North Doublegate Drive. He said the project will begin this summer.

Also, Roberson said consideration is being given to enhancing the traffic light operation at Old Dawson Road and Point North Boulevard. That intersection experiences some congestion issues during periods of high traffic.