Cookeville Working To Rehab South Jefferson Lines Before Repaving

Noticed the bumps on South Jefferson Avenue? The City of Cookeville is working to replace water and sewer lines on South Jefferson Avenue before T-DOT begins repaving the street north of the interstate.

Water Quality Control Director Barry Turner said that most of the patchwork currently visible on South Jefferson is the result of the $1.9 million project to replace and rehabilitate sewer lines. Turner said a project to replace the waterlines beneath South Jefferson will begin in early 2024.

“We have a lot of patches up through there,” Turner said. “When they get the new road done, we don’t want to be up there digging and repairing water leaks, and we’re digging in for the sewer lines. We’re trying to get all of that done prior to the state repaving the road.”

Turner said he hopes the projects will be concluded before T-DOT begins repaving the street north of the interstate to the square. The contractor is minimizing the disruption to traffic by working at night, Turner said.

Turner said that the waterline project will entail digging and cuts that are mostly outside of the road. This will result in less patchwork on the road as much of the project will take place on sidewalks.

Turner expects traffic disruption to be minimal when the waterline project begins, aside from some access to parking lots.

“We just ask that they be patient with us,” Turner said. “We’re trying to get things to where they won’t be having a lot of patches after the state paves the road.

Turner said that the current patchwork has been done using cold-mix. Workers will come back and apply hot-mix to create a better patch for the time being. Turner said the contractor has been able to limit the cuts by using no-dig technology. However, parts of some of the pipes have needed extra rehab which has required additional cuts.