Upcoming Construction Project Could Force Neighbors Out of Homes

A proposed sewer project cutting across Southwest Minneapolis from Linden Hills to East Harriet could force scores of people out of their homes for as many as five days at various points over the next two years.

Parts of the sewer line serving much of the area are just about ready to fall apart, according to a statement from sewer maintainers at the Met Council. 

To keep local toilets flushing, construction crews are slated to start work this fall and next winter on the worst bit: a stretch of sewer running underneath the 4100 block of France Ave, the 3900 and 4000 blocks of Ewing Ave, and the stretch of 41st Street that connects the two avenues. They'll be ripping up the roadway, digging down, and rebuilding the line from scratch. 

The rest of the sewers—some in the vicinity of Waveland Triangle, the rest following a haphazard route underneath 38th Street, West Calhoun Parkway, William Berry Parkway, Roberts Bird Sanctuary, and Dupont Ave—simply need to be re-lined via robot. The Met Council is promising a limited amount of construction in those areas aimed at replacing the occasional bit of pipe.

However, residents adjacent to this part of the line, dubbed 1-MN-341, could lose sewer service for two to five days as construction moves past this summer, fall, and through summer 2015. The Met Council is promising to reimburse the effected residents for costs incurred while decamping to a hotel in search of a working toilet. 

To better enlighten the public, the Met Council will hold a question-and-answer session at Linden Hills Park on Tuesday Feb. 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. If you can't make it to the session but still have questions, contact either: 

• Tim O’Donnell, Project Citizens Liaison, at 651-602-1269 or at tim.odonnell@metc.state.mn.us 
• Rex Huttes, Project Manager, at 651-602-4522 or rex.huttes@metc.state.mn.us

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