Charlottesville council hears timeline, costs and community outreach plan for central waterline project

City staff and project contractors told the Charlottesville City Council on Aug. 4 that construction on a multi‑phase central waterline project is expected to begin in October and will run for several years, with Phase 1 scheduled to last about four years. The project will install approximately five miles of 24‑inch and 30‑inch drinking water pipe through the city; Phase 1 alone is roughly four miles and carries an estimated construction budget of about $58 million. Bill Moyer, identified in the meeting as representing project authorities, said the total program of related water supply projects across the city and county is expected to total roughly $275 million, with the city utility department responsible for about 48 percent of Phase 1 costs and the Albemarle County Service Authority responsible for about 52 percent. The project’s stated purpose is to increase conveyance capacity between the Observatory Mountain Water Treatment Plant and the Pantops (Pantops) tank, to allow full use of the Observatory plant’s 10 million gallons‑per‑day capacity and to interconnect the city’s reservoirs. Moyer told council, “This is gonna be like an interstate highway running through the city,” and said construction sequencing is designed to limit local disturbance to short rolling work zones. He said the contractor expects to begin work in October and that Phase 1 construction is contractually allowed up to four years, with an estimated daily excavation rate of roughly 20 feet in similar work. Moyer described the route approved by council in 2022 (the southern route) and explained that a congested utility corridor on East High Street required the project be split into a separate Phase 2 alignment. He said the city will request easements for short river‑adjacent segments and that the contractor will be restricted to opening about 100 feet of trench at a time, using trench boxes and non‑blasting excavation methods. Council members pressed staff on community impacts, utility interruptions and outreach. Councilor Michael Payne asked how long residents or businesses should expect road closures; Moyer said crews would maintain access for residents, mail and emergency vehicles, and that one lane closures or flagging would be typical while work is active at a section. Moyer said the contractor will test and backfill trenches, then repave sections after the pipe is pressure‑tested. On water supply volumes, Moyer said the program will increase Ragged Mountain Reservoir capacity by about 700 million gallons and bring total community storage to about 3.3 billion gallons (approximately 2.1 billion at Ragged Mountain, about 900 million at the South Rivanna Reservoir and about 350 million at Sugar Hollow Reservoir). He said the pipeline work also provides redundancy if a low‑lying treatment facility or reservoir were to be compromised. City staff announced a community information meeting on Sept. 16 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Carver Recreation Center and said additional neighborhood meetings would be scheduled as construction nears specific blocks. Staff also said they have a communications coordinator whose duties include outreach to neighborhoods along the route. Councilors and staff acknowledged remaining uncertainties: subsurface conditions (rock, unknown utilities) can slow progress, and the extent of surface disturbance at particular properties will depend on what crews encounter. Moyer said the city has prohibited blasting in the project contract and will require the contractor to protect existing sewer laterals and utilities and to repair any damage. The presentation did not include a vote or ordinance; staff said they will return with updates and will coordinate specific outreach and mitigation with neighborhoods and businesses as work approaches each area.