The drainage project on Cherokee Hills Drive is taking forever. What is the status of that project and the expected date of completion?
Initially targeted for completion in March, the Quail Place Tributary Drainage Project, approved by voters in the 2018 General Obligation Bond Election, consists of improvements to the drainage system in the Woodland Park area. The project got underway in November 2020. While not quite forever, it has taken an excessively long time due to multiple issues experienced at the site. In short, little has gone right on this project from the beginning, according to Director of Engineering Micah Siemers.
“Pretty early into this project we realized why the channel wasn’t constructed deeper in the first place,” Siemers said. “Rain was the biggest problem when the project began — then, once it started to dry up, we hit rock. They have had to hammer it all out as they go, which has really slowed the progress. Also, there are several (non-City) service lines that were not located on the original survey that have had to be relocated. This has also delayed work at the site.”
How much longer will it take? It’s hard to say, Siemers says, but he’s guessing approximately four months.
“Unfortunately, due to these hurdles we don’t have a good target date for completion, but if I had to guess, I’d say we are likely looking at another four months or so,” he said.