Two large areas of Lansing's streets are getting ready for construction as the city's Combined Sewer Overflow Control Construction project gets underway for 2010. City Engineer Dean Johnson says, "Of course CSO is one of the biggest programs that's been the 300 lb gorilla in terms of construction activity any given year."

It's a gorilla because it's so intrusive. The city needs to install storm sewers, sanitary sewers and water mains to keep raw sewage from flowing into local rivers. Lansing Director of Public Service for the City of Lansing Chad Gamble says, "When it rains too much it overwhelms the system and runs into the river."

The roads that will be ripped up include a stretch of Saginaw near Sparrow's Mercy St. Lawrence Hospital which will close down to one lane. Washington Avenue near the campus of Ingham Regional Medical Center will also be closing. Gamble says, "The Washington Street project will be closed to local traffic. There will be several businesses in there and we'll be maintaining access to those businesses. That's why for that particular project, the phasing of it is so important to be able to progress that construction down Washington Avenue...all the while maintaining access to the hospital and to the local businesses."

In order to address safety issues, the hospital has been working with the city for more than two years. Robert Denslow, Director of Security and Parking at Sparrow Hospital, says "We've worked together for several years, particularly around the Sparrow Campus. It's going to be a challenging project. We were involved early on in the planning, expressed what our issues and needs are with our focus certainly on maintaining access to the hospital for our patients and physicians, staff and everybody else.

The construction may be the last you see of the new CSO projects for awhile. Gamble says they need to take a break in order to save up funding for other phases. Gamble says, "We are taking a little hiatus from the CSO program. There are no new projects this year as you know. The economy is providing a challenge to just about everything and that also impacts the sewage fund which is paying for the CSO programs."

The construction will begin on Washington Avenue and Saginaw Street starting March 15th.