NEW CASTLE Downtown streets to close for sewage line replacement

The work is part of a city revitalization project being done in conjunction with a Warner Bros. theme mall.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Anyone heading downtown in the next month needs to start planning alternative driving routes.
City officials said four streets will be closed Friday when workers start replacing sewage lines. They are: South Mill Street, between Croton Avenue and East Washington Street; Water Street, between South Mill and East Washington; South Street, between South Mercer and South Mill streets; and Market Street, between South Mercer and South Mill.
South and Market streets, which intersect with Croton and South Mill, will be open to people using parking lots on those streets, but no other traffic, said Ted Saad, assistant to Mayor Timothy Fulkerson.
Saad said they aren't sure how long the work will take because they don't know the condition of the sewage lines. The streets could be closed as long as a month, he said.
"Some of these streets and utility lines are close to 100 years old. They have a plan, but they don't know what they will find," Saad said.
Workers from the Pennsylvania-American Water Company spent more time than expected last week working on East Washington and East streets after finding problems when digging for their lines, he said.
There were traffic delays on those streets for several days.
Revitalization: The utility replacement work is part of a downtown revitalization project that will mean new sidewalks, parking and streets over the next 18 months.
It is being done in conjunction with work downtown by Cascade Development Corporation, a private developer, to restore the first theater owned by the Hollywood movie makers the Warner Bros., and two nearby buildings that will serve as a Hollywood theme mall.