By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Starting this week, 213 customers of Columbia Gas on the East Side of Bowling Green will see the start of a new gas line project in their neighborhood.
Columbia Gas contractors will work street by street to install 93,000 feet of new main lines and service lines up to each customer’s home or building.
The project will involve customers on East Wooster Street from University Lane to Mercer Road, plus some of the side streets extending south to Scott Hamilton Street.
According to Raquel Colon, from Columbia Gas, the $1.3 million project will involve putting plastic piping in for the main lines and all customer lines hooked into the main line. The work will get rid of the old steel pipes and provide higher gas pressure to customers.
Columbia Gas officials held a public meeting at the library earlier this month to address concerns from landowners. The streets affected include East Wooster, University Lane, South College to Scott Hamilton, Crim, Baldwin, State and Clough streets. Biddle and Williams streets in that area have already had their gas lines replaced with new plastic ones.
The McDonald’s restaurant on East Wooster Street will be affected. But Columbia Gas officials assured the owner that they will be in communication with him prior to the lines being changed, and that the shut off will be just a couple hours.
“We’ll work with you the best we can,” said Jim Simon, construction leader for the project.
Wherever possible, the work crews will bore the line in. Digging open trenches will be done as a last resort.
The project is expected to be completed by early fall, Colon said.
Gas service will not be cut until it is time for Columbia Gas to connect the customer to the new gas system at their meter. For most customers, gas service will be interrupted for approximately two hours. Customers will get advance notice of this service interruption.
If the gas meter is currently inside, it will be moved outside.
Any surface that has to be disturbed will be repaired by Columbia Gas. This includes sidewalks, driveways, lawns and landscaping. Columbia Gas crews will have a watering truck to help restore lawns that are torn up for the project.
“We are careful to restore wherever we can,” Colon said. “We kind of have to hope the landowners take an interest and water, too.”
The Columbia Gas crews will be in white vehicles. The gas crews and other contractors working on the project will carry identification at all times, she added.
The increased gas pressure will benefit the city, Colon said.
“It offers the opportunity for economic development in the city as well,” she said.
Once this work is complete, customers will have a gas system with state of the art safety features, Colon said.
Residents can contact Colon, external affairs specialist for Columbia Gas of Ohio, with questions or concerns at 419-351-8398 or rcolon@nisource.com. They can also visit www.columbiagasohio.com/replacement for more information on the construction process.
