Telfair Street closed for next month for stormwater system repairs

A Macon Water Authority (MWA) stormwater system project to repair a failed line at 1279 Telfair Street will result in a partial closure of this street and a detour while repairs are ongoing.

The road closure is near downtown Macon from the intersection of Telfair Street and Ash Street to the intersection of Telfair and Hazel Street. The road is a well traveled route heading into downtown Macon and turns into First Street, where Navicent Health--the second largest hospital in Georgia--is located.

The project began on April 3 and is expected to continue for the next month. This rehabilitation work comes after extensive rainfall last week and the formation of a sinkhole at the site, causing the Telfair Street stormwater line to fail.

The sinkhole formed at an older part of the stormwater system that consisted of brick pipe. Despite previous work the MWA has done to maintain this area, the impacted line will require a complete rehabilitation.

MWA has contracted with Utility Asset Management (UAM) to fix the damaged portion of the stormwater system. Due to the emergency nature of this incident, the project has been made a top priority over other long-term system improvements, according to MWA officials.

While repairs to the damaged system are ongoing, MWA will install a temporary bypass line to handle stormwater flow in this area. The bypass system will cross Telfair Street and requires part of the street to close for cleaning, reinforcing, spray lining, and curling of the failed line.

While Telfair Street is closed for repairs, traffic will be rerouted to a detour using Hazel Street and Ash Street.