West Markham stretch to close for sewer work

A section of busy West Markham Street in the Midtown area of Little Rock is scheduled to be shut down for the weekend to accommodate another round of sewer improvements.

The contractor will barricade the section between Mississippi Street and Rodney Parham Road starting at 9 p.m. Friday. The stretch is scheduled to remain closed until 5:30 a.m. Monday.

The section that will close carries between 16,000 and 20,000 vehicles daily, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation’s latest online data.

“Access will be given to residents and businesses located inside the construction area,” the city said in announcing the closing. “Detour signs will be in place to direct all other traffic around the area.”

The closing of a significant Little Rock artery is the second in three weekends as the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority wraps up a $1.1 million project in the area, replacing 600 feet of pipe to increase flow and eliminate four overflow locations, where excessive infiltration of rain into the sewer system can cause backups and manholes to overflow.

The weekend of Aug. 13, a section of South Rodney Parham Road between West Markham and Mississippi streets was closed to allow a contractor for the authority, Diamond Construction of North Little Rock, to replace

a section of pipe that was 15 inches in diameter with one that is 18 inches in diameter, which is 20% larger.

The same contractor will conduct the work this weekend and replace the same diameter pipe, said John Holloway, the authority’s director of engineering. The section of pipe to be replaced is 87 feet long, he said.

The project is part of a long-term, $500 million effort by the Little Rock Water Reclamation Authority to upgrade elements of the city’s 1,400-mile sewer system that serves 67,700 houses and businesses, and eliminate more than 300 overflow locations throughout the city.

The closure likely won’t last all weekend, according to Quentin Nelson, the project engineer. He said the project on South Rodney Parham was completed by that Saturday. The West Markham Street project is more complicated, but it could wrap up Sunday, he said.

When the barricade is up, the contractor works around the clock until the project is completed, Nelson said.