Underground

Trunk line plans revealed

A steady stream of waterworks ratepayers filed through the doors of the Wellington and District Community Centre’s Rotary Room last Thursday evening as the County hosted a Public Consultation Centre for the proposed trunk water main, sanitary sewer, and pumping station to run under the Millennium Trail in Wellington. Residents and ratepayers browsed 20 information boards detailing various aspects of the project and asked questions of consultants, County engineering staff and council members.

(Not everyone was permitted to ask questions, however. Your correspondent found one of the consulting engineers soon after arriving at the meeting and asked whether the trunk line work—design, engineering and such—would be made redundant if the current examination of the option of running water to Bloomfield and Picton from Wellington was determined to be a preferred solution. Before the consultant could answer, Shire Hall staff interjected, explaining that any question would have to be put in an email, sent to Shire Hall communications to be answered the next day. And it was. See Answer at the end of this story.)

Water and sewer trunk lines are the next stage of the $100 million Master Servicing Plan in Wellington. The primary benefit to the existing water system is that it will provide a loop. The current system is one long line under Main Street stretching from one end of the village to the other.

It is costly to maintain the water quality and vulnerable to single points of failure.

The trunk lines’ other beneficiary is development north of the Millennium Trail.

It is, however, a big and likely very expensive project. The plan calls for excavating at some points along its path to a depth of 21 feet. Bedrock resides close to the surface in Wellington. Burrowing through rock will be time-consuming, disruptive and costly.

When the MSP was conceived in 2021, consulting economists Watson and Company estimated the cost of the trunk lines—water and wastewater—at $11.3 million. In a waterworks public meeting last week, a Shire Hall official estimated the cost was now closer to $15 million.

The new trunk watermain and trunk sanitary sewer in the village will run from the existing water and wastewater treatment plants to the east along Main Street, north on Cleminson Street, east along the Millennium Trail and then connect to the new water tower on Belleville Street. The project also includes a new sanitary pumping station located on the Millennium Trail near the intersection with West Street.

CLOSURES AND DETOURS
Sections of the Millennium Trail will require full closure during construction. However, detours will be provided. Existing vegetation and several trees will be removed during construction, but County staff say that all mature trees removed will be replaced.

Main Street between Cleminson (the Legion) and Prince Edward Drive (entrance to Wellington on the Lake) will be closed during some of this project. A detour route has been laid out, rerouting traffic up Hubbs Creek Road, across Greer to Danforth Road, to Consecon Street, and into the village. A number of mature trees along Main Street will have to be removed to accommodate the new pipes. They, too, will be replaced, according to the plans presented last week.

The project is currently being tendered, so a final project cost is unknown. If approved, construction is planned to commence this fall, with a completion date of midsummer of 2025.

ANSWER
According to David MacPherson, Shire Hall engineering, “the proposed Wellington trunk water main is currently designed to also function as a transmission line from the new water tower to the water treatment plant, which is sized to accommodate the flows required for Picton/Bloomfield should Council decide to implement the regional supply approach. An upgrade to the Wellington trunk portion will not be required.

“However, the Wellington trunk main would only be one component of the regional transmission line and additional components such as pumping stations, storage and chlorination booster stations along the regional line would be determined at detailed design of that system.”