Two current water line replacement projects are good news for Belhaven and Belhaven Heights residents.
One is a project to replace the 36-inch water line on the north side of Riverside Drive and the 18-inch line on the south side of Riverside Drive, which is included in the rehab of Riverside Drive from Peachtree Street to Interstate 55 that is underway.
The other project is the final phase of the installation of a new 48-inch water main from Interstate 20/Interstate 55 North to Jefferson and Silas Brown streets.
Pete Perry, a Belhaven resident and a member of the One Percent Sales Tax Commission, does not expect the water line replacements to produce a big “aha” moment for residents at the tap but the result will be welcome.
“The Riverside Drive replacement will have an impact because the line had major leaks and that won’t be happening anymore,” he said. “The other water line replacement is routing another source of water and that will mean fewer incidents of low water pressure.”
The installation of the 48-inch water main, which Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba has touted for the help it will provide south Jackson, is also expected to increase flow to eastern portions of downtown Jackson and the I-55 South corridor, areas that have experienced low water pressure in the past, especially during the extreme winter storm system of 2021.
Hibbett Neel with Neel-Schaffer said the new water main will be helpful to Belhaven.
“It will really open up that entire area of the city with more water and more pressure,” he said. “So, it is extremely important.”
Funding for the roughly $7.6 million project for the 48-inch water main replacement is from the American Rescue Act.
Portions of the water main project will be put in service as they are constructed with the overall project scheduled to be operational later this year.
The improvements were designed to allow larger quantities of water to get to the distribution system at the J.H. Fewell Plant. Currently, the water travels through small-sized, older cast iron pipes and for a longer distance.
The last phase of construction will allow the 48-inch main to run from I-20/I-55 North to Jefferson and Silas Brown streets. This phase will complete the connection from the Fewell plant to Interstate 55 at McDowell Road, with connections at Poplar Street, Monroe Street, High Street, Amite Street, Pearl Street, Rankin Street, McDowell Road and I-55 frontage road.
