Gas Line Project Headed for West Market Street

A gas line project will disrupt traffic on West Market Street in Fairlawn for about three months as crews replace an outdated pipe under the road.

Mark Schaeffer, a project manager at Dominion East Ohio, said his company will tear out old lines and install new from North Miller Road to a point just west of Smith Road.

During construction, there will be one lane closed in the work zone -- about 300 feet -- with signs and flaggers.

Work was initially expected to start in July, but has been moved to September.

Schaeffer said the project will wrap up in November. Crews will return in the spring to plant grass disturbed by the work.

Schaeffer said the project is part of Dominion's Pipeline Infrastructure Replacement Program, which started in 2008 and will replace 5,500 miles of bare steel pipe -- about 27 percent of the system -- with coated pipe that is protected from corrosion.

"We're going through our system and replacing all the bare, uncoated pipe," he said.

Smaller 8-inch lines will be replaced by boring underground, but 12-inch pipes will require open cutting, he said.

There will be interruptions in gas service to the businesses along West Market Street, but Schaeffer said crews will try to do some of the transfers at night. Service to Summit Mall, which is fed by a different line, won't be affected.

The replacements are being paid by surcharges on all customers' bills.

"We're trying to eliminate as many problems as possible," Schaeffer said. "We want to be proactive, so we're not out in the winter, when people need gas, making a mess."