gmhTODAY 22 gmhToday Oct Nov 2018 | Page 64

City Beat Let's Talk About Infrastructure By Maureen Tobin, Communications & Engagement Manager On a weekly basis the City of Morgan Hill shares “The Scoop – News you want to know about the public projects and maintenance activities in Morgan Hill”. The information can be found on the City website, on Nextdoor, Facebook, Twitter, and is also included in the Weekly 411 eblast to the Morgan Hill community. While many people peruse this in- formation to see what might be happening in their neighbor- hood, many of us don’t think much about the effort involved in maintaining and improving the City’s entire infrastructure. A broader look at the many infrastructure projects in the works or coming soon is worth paying attention to. Roadway Infrastructure Projects It’s easy to notice roadway maintenance and improvements as they are very visible and make an immediate difference in our everyday driving experience. The City of Morgan Hill has recently completed their 2018 Pavement Rehabilitation projects, which resulted in roadway maintenance and improvements in the following areas: n Llagas Creek Estates neighborhood n Sparhawk Estates neighborhood n Sutter Boulevard from 18305 Sutter to Butterfield Blvd. n Hill Road (Diana Avenue to E. Dunne Avenue) n Tennant Avenue (Westbound lanes from Church Street to the Hwy 101 Southbound Off-Ramp n Concord Circle n Tennant Avenue (Eastbound lanes from Church Street to the Hwy 101 Southbound Off-Ramp n Cochrane Road (Monterey Road to Mission View Drive) Two big water projects of note are the Boys Ranch and Jackson Well Rehabilitation Project and the New Main Avenue Well Project. The Boys Ranch and Jackson Well Rehabilitation Project has just recently been completed and brought online two previously drilled wells to increase Morgan Hill’s drinking water capacity. The New Main Avenue Well Project began earlier this year and will provide Morgan Hill with approximately 850 gallons per minute of additional drinking water. On the wastewater side, the 2018 Infiltration and Inflow Sewer Rehabilitation Project has just recently begun. This project repairs damaged sewer piping at 10 locations. Five of the locations are near Llagas Road and the other five locations are in the Holiday Lake/Jackson Oaks area. The First Street Sewer project will start soon, replacing deterio- rated sewer piping serving businesses along the west side of Monterey between First Street and Main. Looking forward to 2019 the Tennant Avenue Sewer Upgrade project is antici- pated to begin in the spring. This project provides a new 24” sewer main along Tennant Avenue between Railroad Avenue and Monterey Road. Maintaining and improving the City of Morgan Hill’s infra- structure is a critical part of the ongoing services provided to the community. To find out more information about all City of Morgan Hill infrastructure projects use the following link to review the City of Morgan Hill Capital Improvement Budget. https://bit.ly/2Mx4nni Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Projects Water and Wastewater projects, unlike roadway projects, are often not very visible to the community. The City regularly takes care of projects related to water, stormwater, and wastewater to ensure quality service to the community. These projects often happen underground or in areas that are not obvious. We would be quickly aware if we turned on the faucet and a flow of water didn’t appear, or flushed our toilet only to realize the “waste” had not disappeared. When these services happen as we expect, it is easy to forget the effort needed to ensure those services occur 24/7 without a hitch. 64 GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018 gmhtoday.com