Gainesville making headway on several projects

May 4—City of Gainesville road repairs and reconstruction are continuing after some minor accidents.

Last week, there was some leakage in the downtown area due to a contractor hitting a water line.

"When the City staff was isolating the leak to make repairs, the system had a surge. We think the surge was caused by a valve slipping when it was being closed. This means the value went from the full open position and closed instantly," explained City Manager Barry Sullivan. "The surge caused some additional leaks in the area. Staff made repairs to the largest leaks on the same day and finished the smaller leaks on the following day."

On the day of the incident, some fire hydrants needed to be opened to try to relieve some pressure from the surge.

Road repairs have been ongoing throughout the city to prevent further damage down the line. Field Street between Perry Street and Potter Street was finished in March.

Eight streets are undergoing a mill and overlay process where older asphalt is milled off and replaced with new material. Seven of these streets (Perry Street, Mill Street, Potter Street, Buck Street, Hancock Street, Lindsay Street and Garnett Street) are currently being overlaid, and Denton Street has been milled and will be overlaid as soon as weather permits.

The contractor is still in the process of sealing some streets as well. This process prevents water from entering cracks, making the streets last longer. The process has been completed on 10 streets with crack sealing still being done on Culberson Street, Dixon Street, Muller Street, Refinery Road, Jefferson Street and Scott Street.

The new addition to the Civic Center is also on track to be completed by September of this year.