MMWD plans water main replacement in Fairfax

The Marin Municipal Water District plans to replace century-old water pipes this spring and summer on Bolinas Road in Fairfax.

The agency presented plans at the Fairfax Town Council meeting on Wednesday to replace 4,350 feet of pipeline starting near Deer Park Villa and working north to Broadway.

The work will begin in April and will conclude by September or possibly earlier, according to the district. Crews will excavate 2-foot-wide trenches, proceeding in 200-foot segments. The work, planned for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, will affect nearby parking and require temporary water shutoffs of up to eight hours.

“We’ll be reducing the risk of major water main ruptures and associated damages, as it applies to major events such as earthquakes,” said Zach Talbott, engineering manager.

Water flow to fire hydrants will increase by 20%, he said, describing the project goals and benefits.

The water district has been coordinating with the town public works department and meeting with businesses, including three that will need to move parklets before construction, Talbott said.

Residents and businesses will receive a series of notices by mail and door hangings before construction and shutoffs, he said. The district will soon finalize and post the schedule online.

Members of the Town Council had numerous questions about street closings, reduced parking, blocked driveways, water shutoffs, repaving, the completion date and the effect on downtown events.

“There’s about 45 businesses on Bolinas Road from Deer Park down to Broadway, about 12 restaurants,” Vice Mayor Frank Egger said. “Are there times when they are going to have the water supply cut off? Will the restaurants have to close or the bars have to close for a day or two?”

“There will only likely be a couple of shutoffs when they get to the downtown area, when we tie into the other pipelines within the area,” Talbott said. “When talking with the town’s public works department we determined that, particularly in downtown, we want to minimize the impacts to businesses, and felt the hours between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. was when water would be shut off.”

“This is usually Monday through Thursday, so this isn’t the weekend,” he said. “We’re not shutting down water on the weekend.”

Residences will be given an eight-hour window for shutoffs, he said, although the disruption will usually be several hours. Construction crews will also try to minimize driveway blockage.

“It’s about a day at a time when they’re working in front of someone’s house,” Talbott said.

Councilmember Mike Ghiringhelli pressed the agency to commit to repaving the entire street after installing the water mains and lateral connections.

“I think at the very least, when you cut up the road, you should pave from one side of the road to the other,” he said.

The district said the current plan is to repave the road in sections 6 to 8 feet wide.

There is no plan to coordinate with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to replace gas mains, which also date to the early 20th century.

Mayor Stephanie Hellman, citing traffic concerns, urged the agency to finish construction before schools reopen in August.

During public comment, several business and event managers urged the district to be mindful of the impacts on their operations and customers.

Karen Marks noted that the Wednesday farmers market is set to open May 6. Setup starts at 2 p.m. and the market runs from 4 to 8 p.m., she said. The market is at Bolinas Park at 142 Bolinas Road.

“I’m just requesting or hoping that maybe on that particular day that construction doesn’t happen,” she said. “I’m hoping if that’s not a possibility that maybe we can discuss some alternative location for just a week.”

“It’s going to be a very painful process,” said Minna Kim, director of the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce. “I am gathering input from different businesses on how this is going to affect them: the dust, the noise, the access to businesses. … We’re going to try our best to work together.”

Ranjiv Khush, a water district board member who lives nearby, said the agency has “procedures in place for collecting all of the different concerns that are being raised and addressing, to the degree that we can, those that we can.”

“There will be, I hope, a lot of elements of this project that go well and faster than we anticipate,” he said. “But we also know that there are going to be unexpected hiccups.”

Egger said the Fairfax Festival on Bolinas Road in June attracts 12,000 people over a three-day weekend.

“It’s going to be really, really difficult to fit this all in,” he said.