HOPEWELL, Va. (WRIC) — Hopewell residents are set to receive long-awaited repairs to the city’s stormwater infrastructure. It’s part of a more than $10 million investment to improve the state’s wastewater and stormwater management.
On Monday, May 4, Hopewell leaders accepted a check of over $1 million from Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan for the city’s Heretick Avenue stormwater project.
Residents living along Heretick Ave. and neighboring streets say flooding and sinkholes have been a reoccurring issue for years because of old infrastructure.
According to Mayor Johnny Partin, this is one of the city’s worst stormwater problems.
“The depth of water is actually able to allow a kayak to, go down the street when it gets a big torrential downpour,” said Mayor Johnny Partin.
City officials said the metal collector pipes in the neighborhood are damaged and corroded, and can cause a major safety disaster if they aren’t fixed. Mayor Partin said the the aging infrastructure has been unable to withstand stronger intensity storms. He says a lack of funding caused the problem to persist.
“One of our former stormwater managers had been doing a lot of quick fixes because we didn’t have the funding in place to tackle this project so he was basically working with a very limited budget,” Mayor Partin said.
Former City Councilman Kenneth Walton lives in the area and said he has previously tried to address the problem but was unsuccessful without the proper funding.
“I worked for eight years trying to get infrastructure put in there, and it’s gotten progressively worse and we didn’t have the money to fix it,” Walton said. “So this project will take care of the entire neighborhood,”
The investment is part of over $10 million in federal funding, secured by Congresswoman McClellan for statewide community projects.
More than five million dollars is allocated for infrastructure improvements in the Tri-Cities which include:
- $800,000.00 for a Prince George County Beechwood Manor Asbestos Pipe Replacement to modernize Prince George County’s community water system by replacing four miles of asbestos cement waterlines.
- $1,092,000 for City of Petersburg Poor Creek Rehabilitation to assess and repair the Poor Creek wastewater system by repairing aging sewer pipes and manholes, reducing excessive water entering the system during storms and restoring lost capacity.
- $1,092,000.00 for City of Colonial Heights Waterline Replacement Project to assess and repair aging water lines serving thousands of residents, improving efficiency and reducing risk of water breaks and contamination.
“We know that the, the stormwater infrastructure, if it doesn’t work, it impacts people’s health, it impacts their property, it impacts the community,” said Congresswoman McClellan.
The city originally requested more than $1.3 million to complete the project but says they can fill the gap with local funds and recent bonds to get construction started as soon as possible.
Mayor Partin said residents can expect to receive a timeline on the progression of the project but it’s unclear when they’ll officially break ground.