Storm sewer project to improve Marion Street drainage in Princeton

Marion Street residents in Princeton may soon get some relief from flooded basements.

City Manager Theresa Wittenauer said Monday the sanitary sewer project, paid for through a Community Development Block grant, is wrapping up, allowing the city to move on to the next phase of its project, which is installing a storm sewer.

Wittenauer said because the sanitary sewer is being paid for using grant money, the storm sewer project has to be kept separate.

Princeton will take bids no later than 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, for the storm sewer portion of the work, then publicly read the proposals at that time.

East Marion Street in the Lincoln School neighborhood has been torn up for months as the city replaces the sanitary sewer. The street will not be repaved until after the storm sewer project is completed, Wittenauer said.

The storm sewer portion of the project is not grant funded. Wittenauer said the city will utilize funds from the Amtrak depot improvement project. That work came in under budget, allowing the extra money to be utilized for the sewer project.

Mayor Ray Mabry called the Marion Street storm sewer installation a win-win.

“I walked that street a year ago and there are very few inlets,” Mabry said. “This project will install 19 inlets. Right now, there’s four inlets. That poor street has had a history of flooding. It was poorly designed 100 years ago for drainage.”