Mount Prospect sewer collapse repair to take three weeks

A preliminary plan is in place to repair the sewer collapse below Busse Road in Mount Prospect, but officials expect the process to take three weeks.

Representatives of the village, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and the Illinois Department of Transportation met Friday afternoon to discuss how to go about fixing the 35-year-old pipe, which is 3 feet in diameter and 23 feet below the surface.

Motorists are encouraged to find alternate routes in the meantime, as since Thursday afternoon when the problem was discovered, only one northbound lane has been open at Algonquin Road.

“Traffic needs to be diverted as a precaution because the pavement could be undermined,” MWRD spokeswoman Allison Fore said. “We're all in communication working together.”

Mount Prospect Police Cmdr. Mike Eterno said both southbound lanes are open, and that cars heading north are getting through in the curb lane. Northbound vehicles are prohibited from turning west onto Algonquin, but they can turn left a block farther north at Dempster Street. Officers have been posted as needed at the intersection and at Busse and Dempster Street to help direct traffic.

“It's going to be slow going for a while,” Eterno said.

Fore said that there's no cost estimate as of yet but MWRD is proceeding with an emergency repair contract. Workers are expected to dig a 15-foot by 30-foot trench. The water agency will pay for the repair project.

Fore said it could take up to a week to get construction started. An inspector will conduct a radar survey on Saturday to better determine the conditions beneath the pavement.

She added that area residences and businesses shouldn't be affected by any flooding or sewer backups because the flow in the pipe can be diverted.

Eterno said updates will be posted on the village website, mountprospect.org, as more information becomes available.