A major sewer and water construction project will close a street near the Bangor Public Library into December.
That is the next step in Bangor’s efforts to comply with a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to keep raw sewage and other pollutants from flowing into Kenduskeag Stream and the Penobscot River.
Bangor entered a consent decree in 2015 in which it admitted to violating the Clean Water Act over raw sewage flowing into those waterways from combined sewer and stormwater lines. The consent decree outlines steps the city must take through 2031 to cut down on those violations.
The city has been working to separate combined stormwater and sewer lines since the 1990s.
On Monday, the city announced that Cumberland Street will be closed beginning Sept. 8 through early December to allow crews to separate stormwater and sewer lines, as well as replace water mains, some of which date back to 1897.
For three to five weeks, that work also will require the closure of Cumberland’s intersection with Harlow Street, near the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building. Drivers will be detoured onto Kenduskeag Avenue or Center and Spring streets to avoid the construction area.
Work is anticipated on Market Street, as well, along with its intersection with Cumberland Street.
That project will cost an estimated $2.8 million.
The city also will be overhauling Cumberland Street, including its sidewalks, with the bulk of that work slated for next summer.
The short cut-across from Market to Cumberland, in front of the Attic thrift store is expected to be removed as part of this work.