Baxter Boulevard Reopens Monday

Storage conduits will significantly improve the water quality in the Back Cove
Portland, Maine - This Monday, the full length of Baxter Boulevard will reopen to motorists after an eight month closure, marking the near completion of the city’s Baxter Boulevard North Storage Conduit project. The project required the installation of underground concrete box conduits, which are able to store up to two million gallons of combined sewage and stormwater that can then be sent to the East End Wastewater Treatment Facility instead of being discharged untreated into Back Cove.  Two separate one million gallon conduits were installed, one located under Baxter Boulevard and the other under Payson Park.

“Improving the city’s water quality has and continues to be a priority and this week’s achievement with the Baxter Boulevard project marks another important step forward,” stated Portland City Manager Mark Rees. “I also want to thank the neighborhood and commuters for their patience while this project was underway. Closing a major street is never easy and I hope the community will agree that the short term inconvenience we experienced is far outweighed by the benefits to Back Cove and Casco Bay.”

While this section of Baxter Boulevard was closed, the city coordinated Sundays on the Boulevard, offering fun family activities for the public to enjoy on the road during the summer months. A continuation of this program, which would involve closing Baxter Boulevard at Vannah Street to motorists on Sundays during warm months, will be under consideration by the Transportation, Sustainability and Energy Committee at an upcoming committee meeting.

Currently, more than half of the city’s sewer system combines sewage and stormwater into a single drainage system. During wet weather, a portion of this combined sewage, which includes stormwater, residential sewage and industrial waste, overflows into Portland’s streams, rivers and coastal waters untreated. This water pollution carries pathogens that can make swimmers sick, can contaminate seafood and overall, has serious impacts on the health of the Casco Bay.  The city invested in underground storage units as a cost-effective way to reduce the release of combined sewer and stormwater into the Back Cove during heavy rain events. Under federal order between 1993 and 2010, the City Council funded projects that reduced sewer overflow volumes by 42% from 1993 levels of 720 million gallons to 420 million gallons annually. During this same time period the city has spent close to $100 million in projects to reduce sewer overflows.  More recently, the city adopted a plan calling for the investment of $170 million in additional projects that will reduce sewer overflow volumes to 87 million gallons annually (an 88% reduction since 1993). This plan is set to begin in 2014.

WHEN:            Monday, September 5, 2013
                        7:00 AM
WHERE:           Baxter Boulevard Reopens to Traffic
                        Portland