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By BREANNA SHEPHERD
Capital News Service
Two new water pipes have been planned in Macomb County as part of Detroit’s five-year improvement project.
The first of the projects, a 96-inch pipe running along 31 Mile Road into Oakland County, has been put on hold indefinitely until construction costs are paid by the communities the pipe would serve, said George Ellenwood, public affairs director for the city of Detroit department of water and sewage.
The communities that would benefit most from the pipe in the form of additional water supply and better pressure are Washington and Oakland townships and the village of Oxford, said Bill Ireland, director of the Department of Public Works in Lake Orion Township.
Ireland added that Lake Orion Township would add a second water main if the pipe were constructed, so it would have a small amount of financial obligation to the project.
Washington Township has no plans to tap into the pipe or pay any of the project’s construction costs, said Gary Kirsh, Washington Township supervisor.
He added that the pipe would run through the center of the road where it would cause the least amount of damage to the area’s aesthetic value.
Kirsh said 31 Mile Road will be repaved and bridges on that road will be repaired if the pipe is installed. These were conditions of an agreement between the township and Detroit
The second project is called the “Chesterfield Loop.” The 42- inch pipe would run through 10 miles of Macomb County, from Metropolitan Parkway to 24 Mile Road, said George Ellenwood, director for the city of Detroit department of water and sewage.
Ellenwood said the project’s purpose is to provide a second waterline. This would relieve some of the area’s water pressure and supply problems. It is being constructed over three phases and should be completed in 2003 and in service by 2004.
© 2002, Capital News Service, Michigan State University School of Journalism

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