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Clarksburg outlines nearly $48 million downtown infrastructure overhaul, says work will finish by July
Summary
City staff told council the downtown infrastructure improvement project replaces aging water, sewer, storm and gas lines across downtown, totals about $47.9 million, and is scheduled to complete by July 28, 2026 after an accelerated 16-month construction window.
The City Manager reported a comprehensive update on the downtown Clarksburg infrastructure improvement project, describing coordinated work across sewer, stormwater, water and gas systems and an estimated total investment of about $47.9 million.
According to the report given to council, project replacements include 6,100 linear feet of sewer pipe and 36 manholes; roughly 5,100 linear feet of storm sewer and 33 manholes; 21,000 linear feet of water line and 232 new service connections; Hope Gas work of about 35,000 linear feet of pipe including 188 service re-ties and a new regulator; and a paving contract estimated at $2.4 million. The manager said the work began March 4, 2025, will finish by July 28, 2026, and that coordinating underground improvements with the West Virginia Department of Highways paving window saved an estimated 3.5 years of future disruption.
The manager characterized the project as an interagency effort involving the Clarksburg Water Board, Clarksburg Sanitary Board, Hope Gas, Thrasher Group, the West Virginia Department of Highways, and federal and state regulators, plus local public-works, police and fire departments. He listed per-system budget allocations: sanitary sewer just over $5.7 million, storm about $4.52 million, water $10.7 million, Hope Gas $24.6 million, and the WVDOH paving estimate $2.4 million, totaling near $47.9 million.
Councilmembers and public commenters acknowledged the scale of the work and its benefits for long-term operational reliability, but several residents and business owners also told council the construction period produced real economic disruption for downtown merchants. That debate overlapped with public comments about the one-time business grant program intended to ease construction impacts.
City staff told council that paving of several downtown streets is complete and most sewer work will finish within the week following the meeting. The manager said the project's complexity required adaptive problem solving when crews encountered century-old subsurface conditions.
The council did not change project scope or budgets during the meeting; the report served as an informational update and a public acknowledgment of the project's partners and scale.
