10/31/2024

Construction began in February 2024 for WW1060 Sewer Rehab project with crews currently working on wall and fence reconstruction on the north side of the Western Canal between Village II Park and Honeysuckle Street.

Upcoming work includes installing pipe on the north side of the Western Canal, west of the Burk Street alignment, to underground the smaller concrete channel which will provide needed future access for maintenance vehicles along the canal. This work is expected to begin sometime in November.

Upcoming work also includes sewer manhole rehabilitation in Lindsay Road, north of the Western Canal. This work is scheduled to begin in November and roads will remain open for travel; however, lane reductions may be in place on Lindsay Road to accommodate the work to shift traffic away from the work zone. 

Provided below is a current schedule for the project. Thank you for your patience during construction. 

Project WW1060 – Concrete Pipe Gravity Sewer Rehab was initiated in 2017, and consists of two phases, an initial assessment and subsequent rehabilitation.  During the assessment phase the sewer infrastructure along Lindsay Road from Guadalupe Road south to the Western Canal and along the Western Canal from Lindsay Road west to the Neely Water Reclamation Facility was identified as a priority for rehabilitation.  As such, Entellus was hired in 2018 to complete the engineering design services for the rehabilitation of 10,000 feet of 36” and 24” sewer pipeline and manholes along this alignment.

The existing 36” sewer along the Western Canal from Lindsay Road to the Neely Water Reclamation Facility was installed in 1986 within a 25’ wide utility easement, with approximately 3,200 feet of this easement in the rear of 24 residential properties from Lindsay Road to 700 feet west of Burk Street.  An 18” reclaimed water pipeline was installed within the same utility easement immediately south of the sewer pipeline.  South of the easement, within the Western Canal, is also a 24” potable water pipeline installed in 1991.  Both reclaimed and potable water infrastructure are critical to the operation of their respective systems, with the need for rehabilitation or replacement anticipated soon based on leak history and age.

The Western Canal right-of way to the south accommodates numerous Salt River Project facilities including from Lateral 9.4, Lateral 9.5 and two sets of electrical transmission towers. The presence of these SRP facilities as well as Town utility infrastructure results in a very congested corridor, limiting potential for future relocation or replacement in this area.

Based on the imminent need for rehabilitation or replacement of Town utility infrastructure, access concerns within the existing utility easement and the constrained Western Canal corridor, the Town completed a combined corridor analysis from Lindsay Road to Gilbert Road.  The corridor analysis identified numerous options for all three of the utility infrastructure within the corridor, as discussed within the Corridor Analysis Summary Results.  This effort also analyzed the operational requirements for each pipeline, access within the existing easement area and the potential of any alternative alignments for the three Town utilities and SRP facilities.

PHASE ONE ANALYSIS:

Entellus developed alternative design options for the three Town utilities (sewer, reclaimed water and potable water) through this corridor.

• Phase 1: Develop ten (10) options with associated design exhibits and cost estimates.
• Phase 2: Select up to five (5) options to further investigate and provide more detailed design and cost estimates.

Ten options were developed, and the project team coordinated with SRP to discuss the potential options.  As a result of those discussions, based on constraints related to the Bureau of Reclamation property within the Western Canal, six (6) alternatives (Options 5 – 10) were removed from further evaluation; however, are provided below to illustrate the extent of work in attempting to explore every potential option available.

A public meeting was held in mid-November with utility easement property owners to present the ten options developed as part of Phase 1 and provide an opportunity for comments or development of an additional option.  The presentation from that meeting is available here, and provided below are the ten options presented at the meeting:

• Option 1: Acquire existing easement in fee and relocate walls/fences to north side of easement
• Option 2: Create a utility corridor “alley” by installing a barrier on north side of the easement, block wall on the south property line and gates on the side property lines
• Option 3: Acquire land at manhole locations and install block wall around manhole to provide permanent access from the south
• Option 4: Install gates only at manhole property locations to provide access
• *Option 5: Relocate sewer and reclaimed water pipelines to the Western Canal
• *Option 6: Relocate sewer, reclaimed and potable water pipelines to Western Canal
• *Option 7: Relocate sewer, reclaimed and potable water pipelines to Western Canal
• *Option 8: Relocate sewer in Western Canal, and reclaimed and potable water pipelines in residential streets
• *Option 9: Relocate sewer in Western Canal, and reclaimed and potable water pipelines in arterial streets
• *Option 10: Install a new lift station and relocate reclaimed water pipeline to Western Canal

 * determined not allowable due to Bureau of Reclamation land use restrictions.

Options 1 – 4 will undergo further evaluation within Phase 2 as options 5 – 10 have been determined not allowable due to Bureau of Reclamation land use restrictions.

PHASE TWO ANALYSIS: 

In early November 2022, small group meetings were held with residents to provide an update on the project. The information from those meetings is made available here:

• Village 2 PowerPoint presentation
• KC Ranch Phase 2 & Rio Caballo PowerPoint Presentation

On June 28, 2022, the results of the Western Canal Corridor Analysis were shared with Town Council during a Study Session.  Click here if you’d like to view the video of the Council Study Session. The information presented during that Study Session is made available here.  

• Council Study Session PowerPoint presentation
• Video Reviewing 5 Options Being Considered
• Interactive Options Viewer

Pursuant to direction provided by the Gilbert Town Council on November 15, 2022, the residents impacted by this project are able to choose one of two options: Option 1, consisting of purchasing the existing easement area and installing a fence or wall at the new property line; or Option 3, consisting of purchasing the existing easement area around manholes to access these from the south, installing a fence at the new property line and clearing the remainder of the existing easement.

The project team is proceeding with design and collaboration with impacted property owners to determine to preferred scope for each of the 24 residential parcels. 

The extent of the project runs along the Western Canal from Neely Street to Honeysuckle Lane, and in Honeysuckle Lane north to Guadalupe Road. Maps of the alignments are available at the following links:

• Western Canal Alignment
• Honeysuckle Lane Alignment

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