Motorists tooling around the North Tampa area may have to take a few detours in coming weeks, as Hillsborough County completes the pipeline installation on the Dale Mabry Wastewater Diversion project.
The project requires the closures of both lanes and roads in portions of Carrollwood Village. The works is expected to be completed by early October.
These areas will be affected:
- Salem Street will be closed between Waltham Avenue and Four Oaks Road, until Sept. 16.
- Salem Street will be closed between Four Oaks Road and Pittsfield Avenue, from Sept. 19 through Oct. 7.
- Pittsfield Avenue, from Salem Street to Lowell Road, will be closed Sept. 19 through Sept. 30.
Detours and lane closures will be clearly marked, and from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., flag crews will help direct motorists and pedestrians who reside within the closure zones.
(File Photo)
The pipeline construction is being done by traditional open cut installation, which involves dewatering the area, digging trenches, installing the pipeline, backfilling and restoring the area.
The work marks the final phase of the $35 million diversion project, which will consolidate wastewater flow operations in northern Hillsborough.
Once the 24-inch and 36-inch reclaimed water pipeline transmission mains are installed, the 40-year-old Dale Mabry Wastewater Treatment Plant in Carrollwood Village will be retired, and wastewater will flow directly to the Northwest Regional Water Reclamation Facility, 10890 South Mobley Road in Odessa.
A pump station, as well as reclaimed water tanks, will replace the Dale Mabry plant, which will be demolished, likely in early 2017.
The Dale Mabry Wastewater Diversion Project is one of three components of the larger, $240 million Northwest Hillsborough Wastewater Consolidation Project.
The other phases involve expanding the Northwest facility to accept and treat additional wastewater flows, as well as retiring the River Oaks Wastewater Treatment Plant, where construction is expected to begin next spring.
Officials say the entire program will improve treatment efficiency, reduce power costs and minimize future rate impacts.
“It’s kind of like an old air conditioner. When you replace your old air conditioner, it’s like, ‘Wow, I really saved a lot of money,’” Thomas Rawls, program manager of the Northwest Hillsborough Wastewater Consolidation Project, said in February. “When we transfer that flow to the new plant, it’s like you’re getting better motors, better energy savings.
“Everything’s more efficient.”
The county expects the entire Northwest Wastewater program to save the county approximately $80 million over the next 20 years. Water rates will not rise for residents, officials say.
“As soon as we start transferring that (water flow), the county’s saving money,” Rawls said.
Once the wastewater facilities at the Dale Mabry site are removed, it will leave a majority of the site as a green space, which is likely to become a county park.
Published September 7, 2016
