Returning to normal as the big sewer project wraps up

I started to think maybe I’d had enough of the giant sewer project in my neighborhood the day I was driving, by necessity, down the wrong side of my street, met a neighbor driving the other way, and had to back up 100 feet and into someone’s driveway to let him pass.

Fortunately, paving was soon to follow, restoring two-way traffic.

First, they filled in the hole in my front yard and poured a new curb.

And then they spread asphalt into the side of the street where they laid the pipe. I walked out the next morning barefoot to get my mail and the asphalt was still warm!

And then… they did nothing for two months. Actually, they were out destroying the main road and laying the main sewer line. They removed the pavement along almost half a mile of it – that’s when I drove off the paved road onto the dirt six inches below and broke all the ground effects off the front of my car. If I hadn’t been sure I was ready for this project to be over before, I was certainly sure then.

Finally, they came out and leveled the mounds of dirt in our front yards. Several days later they spread grass seed and straw.

And summer…

…turned to autumn. My neighborhood’s streets continued to be ignored while the main road got all the attention. We got some heavy rain, turning it into a mud bog for weeks. My poor car was covered in mud up to the windowsills! Finally the sewer line was laid, the road was graded, and a first layer of asphalt was put down.

They then turned back to my neighborhood and began to lay final asphalt. They managed to pave only about half the neighborhood, stopping right in front of my house, before ignoring us again for a few more weeks.

This is the scene now. All of my neighborhood’s streets are paved; new grass is growing well. All but the last layer of asphalt is down on the main road.

It’s becoming hard to tell that our lives were ever disrupted by this project.

They say that come May, when the sewer line under the main road is connected to the rest of the city’s sewer system, they’ll send us letters telling us we can connect our outgoing plumbing to the sewer hookups in our yards. That’s when I have to write checks totaling about $6,000.

Have I mentioned that my house is 43 years old and is on its original septic system? Have I further mentioned that you can expect to get 25 to 40 years out of a septic system? Oh, I was going to pay sooner or later. It’s better to pay for a permanent solution!

Ah, homeownership. Read about the time a storm damaged my little ranch house.


Comments

10 responses to “Returning to normal as the big sewer project wraps up”

  1. traveller858 Avatar

    I guess there is only one word that covers this situation – progress!!!!!

    1. Jim Avatar

      Slow progress, alas.

  2. Tori Nelson Avatar

    Ah! All that hassle AND you have to pay $6,000? Seems like you should get, I don’t know, a $6,000 discount for all the inconvenience of construction!

    1. Jim Avatar

      Wow, wouldn’t that be nice. I just keep reminding myself that this is cheaper than a new septic system.

  3. ryoko861 Avatar

    Must be a relief.

    1. Jim Avatar

      Yes. The next relief will come when they finish paving the main road and remove the obstacle course of cones and barriers.

  4. davidvanilla Avatar

    A good thing in spite of the aggravation.

    1. Jim Avatar

      I imagine that if I took stock I’d find that many good things come with some aggravation.

  5. Ted Kappes Avatar

    Is there an option to make the payments in installments? Still like you say it is probably a good deal in the long-run. Our septic system has gotten to where we have to have it sucked out every year or so. I wouldn’t mind not having to think about such maintenance issues again.

    1. Jim Avatar

      There is an installment plan, but only if you make below X dollars per year, which I don’t. I’ve been saving up for this for two years, though, so all I need to do is write the checks when the time comes. My septic system continues to work like a champ, but some of my neighbors are not so fortunate. One neighbor has to have hers sucked out every week; she is dying to get hooked up to the city sewer.

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