Jefferson City conducted smoke tests in the sewer lines under the 200 block of Monroe Street and East High Street Tuesday morning. This testing was in preparation for future renovations to the downtown area’s streets and sidewalks.
This process is sometimes referred to as “streetscaping” by city officials and businesses involved. Eric Seaman, the wastewater division director for the city, said while these smoke tests are routine, this particular case was special due to the age of the downtown area’s infrastructure.
“We do smoke tests periodically, and, in this case, the infrastructure is pretty old,” said Seaman. “It’s going to be more complicated. There’s been modifications over it since the buildings were built in the 1800s.”
Some flaws in the sewer lines were found, but Seaman said they will be easily fixed. Seaman said that the city is just being proactive since they want to start streetscaping within the year.
Checking sewer lines, among other routine checks, is just being precautious.
Crystal Tellman is president of the Downtown Jefferson City Association. She is appreciative of the city’s active involvement in the restoration and preservation of the downtown district.
She said that even steps like checking the sewage lines are important to the overall improvement of the downtown area’s appearance.
“I think it’s a really important step in the process to make sure that the initial work is done and resolved. They’ve done a really good job communicating it with the people that are involved,” said Tellman.
The streetscaping project is still in the fundamental steps, but with action already being taken, Tellman is hopeful for how the city will help the downtown district even more.
Seaman said that the city’s wastewater division will follow up with more testing in the near future to ensure that the streetscaping project will progress.