UPDATE: This project is complete and the street is open.
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Willow Avenue—between Eastern Parkway and Cherokee Road—will close starting Monday, October 6, for essential sewer line repairs.
Traffic detours will also begin Monday morning.
The repairs will take a month or more to complete. It’s important to note that sewer services will not be disrupted during the repair work.
For now, sidewalks will remain open. They will close if crews discover voids or hollowed-out areas under the sidewalk.
During a routine inspection, MSD crews found that this section of the sewer line is in critical need of repair. Point repairs will be made in several locations, followed by the slip-lining of the entire length of the pipe, effectively creating a new pipe within the old one. Nearby Cherokee Park opened in 1891, and the neighborhood grew up around it.
These are the original brick sewers from that time. This 30-inch brick sewer line under Willow Avenue, initially constructed by hand, has been serving the community since 1907.
