OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford This sidewalk and fire hydrant on Seventh Street in Dunkirk were put in as a result of a recent water line project. At left, in the background, is a playing field next to nearby Dunkirk High School.

A project to replace water lines in Dunkirk’s Second Ward is done, but only for now. Leftover money will fund more work nearby later this summer.

The main part of the work already done, according to Department of Public Works Director Randy Woodbury, was the re-routing of a water line that begins at the intersection of Brigham Road and Lucas Avenue. He said the demolition of the old steel plant nearby a few years ago revealed a 20-inch main on Lucas Avenue was compromised.

“We had to decommission that so anything they were doing there wouldn’t mix with our water,” he said.

Another impetus was a 2009 consent order from the state over the city’s 2 million gallon elevated water tank a few blocks away on Willowbrook Drive. “It was essential that all lines to and from the tank be in good shape,” Woodbury said.

The old Lucas Avenue line was removed and a new main placed down Brigham Road to Seventh Street, then run down the median of Seventh Street. It re-connects to the old system at the intersection of Seventh Street and Marauder Drive. The work there is basically complete, with a little landscaping left to do.

“We added many new fire hydrants over there,” Woodbury said. Another side benefit he spoke of was the addition of a sidewalk leading down Seventh Street to Marauder Drive, site of Dunkirk High School. Kids walking down Seventh Street to and from the school used to walk in the road, but now can use that sidewalk.

While checking connections near Marauder Drive and Sixth Street, Woodbury and his workers discovered lines in that area that could use replacement. Fortunately, only $400,000 of a $800,000 New York Environmental Facilities Corporation grant for the water line project was spent on the previously planned work, so he successfully got a change order to add a new line on Sixth Street between Marauder Drive and McKinley Parkway.

The rest of the grant will be spent on work at the Main Street Booster Station, which he said requires an upgrade as a result of the state’s consent order. Updates to the natural gas generator used as a standby power source, as well as a new flow meter, are coming.

Once all the work is done, “We’re able to get out of the consent order and we’ve increased the capacity of our water system to produce 10 million gallons a day,” Woodbury said, adding the capacity now is about 3.5 million gallons a day.