Ask MRN: Why is it taking so long for hole in alley to get fixed?

Dear MRN,

There is a hole in the alley behind the building where I work on Maine Street. It seems as if the hole has been there for a long time, but no work ever gets done. What’s going on?

The alley in question connects Fifth Street and Sixth Street, and it is between Maine and Jersey. The hole is closer to Sixth Street. It’s south of the former Kirlin’s Building (now named 532 Maine and owned by William Duryea) at 532 Maine, and it’s north of Schmiedeskamp Robertson Neu & Mitchell LLP at 525 Jersey. 

Kevin McClean, director of Central Services, said a city sewer line has collapsed in that area. About half of the alley needs to be replaced. He said Laverdiere Construction out of Macomb has been contracted by the city to fix the hole. 

“I actually thought they were already going to be started on it,” McClean said Monday. “So I don’t know what happened with their schedule.”

Jeff Conte, director of engineering and utilities, said the sewer collapsed in November 2021. AT&T was asked to relocate three fiber cable conduits in the area of the collapse. The conduits were moved, but not far enough on the first attempt to allow Laverdiere to begin work.

“As soon as that is done, we can get to it,” Conte said. “It’s gone on for too long.”

“This line has completely collapsed, so that’s why you’re not having any backups,” McClean said. “It’s still running and flowing. It mainly has a lot of leaks in it to where it just needs to be totally replaced.”

The aging infrastructure of Quincy’s streets has led the city to run cameras through sewer lines before work is done to redo any street or alley.

“We’re looking for any areas that potentially could break or if there are future leaks that cause the line to be replaced,” McClean said. “We can actually hire a company to ‘line’ the lines. They actually blow this liquid on the inside of a pipe, but it hardens up basically like a plastic pipe. They’ll do that before they start work on the streets.”