The City of Fort Wayne pledged $100 million to water infrastructure improvements throughout city neighborhoods in 2019.
90 projects have been identified across 80 neighborhoods around Fort Wayne, and the committed dollars will fund stormwater protection, sanitary sewer improvements and water pipe upgrades.
City Utilities will oversee the repairs. Department spokesperson Frank Suarez says the repairs could benefit residents for the next 70 to 100 years.
“These improvements are not being made for today; they’re being made for generations to come,” said Suarez. “We know it’s going to be intrusive, but we know it’s going to pay off in the long run.”
The announcement was made in the Aboite Meadows neighborhood, where underground water infrastructure repairs are nearly complete. The area would flood badly during storms over the last few years.
“I’m sad to mention that I no longer have a lakefront property.”
That’s Quo Karami, a resident of Turf Lane in Aboite Meadows, joking about the amount of storm water he used to get near his home. He says he’s already seeing the improvements in the neighborhood.
“It would be matter of literally a couple of hours before the entire street from that area to all the way up to my house would be covered with water,” Karami said. “The many different crosspoints and junctures are going to take care of all that.”
While most of these projects are slated to begin and see completion within the rest of 2019, some projects will require multiple years to fulfill.
