UGI schedules start of Blakely gas main replacement
May 1—UGI Utilities will begin replacing nearly a mile of decades-old gas main next week in Blakely.
The project, beginning Monday, will replace about 4,500 feet of main, dating to the mid-1960s, on Main Street in Peckville, between Gino Merli Drive and Keystone Avenue, the utility company said.
Contractor Kriger Pipeline will work between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. to replace service lines to 64 customers. They should be done by the end of July.
The total cost of the project was not immediately available, but UGI spokesman Joseph Swope said such replacements typically cost between $600,000 and $1 million a mile.
Parking will be restricted and drivers should expect road closures, detours and traffic delays during construction hours. Accommodations will be made for school buses and emergency vehicles, according to the utility.
The infrastructure project is one of 100 planned this year in 21 counties, UGI said last month. The utility plans to spend $291 million this fiscal year to replace about 70 miles of cast-iron and bare steel mains.
The new mains will be made of either high-density plastic or protected steel.
Other infrastructure work slated in Lackawanna County includes replacement projects on McKinley Avenue in Jermyn, Old Plank Road in Mayfield and Mill Street in Fell Twp.
The Mayfield project is in progress and should be completed by early June, Swope said. The Jermyn project is scheduled to begin in mid-July. Work in Fell Twp. is expected to start in early August.
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