DES MOINES, Iowa — The City of Des Moines is still hoping to make progress on long-promised construction overhauls along Ingersoll Avenue.
Business owners have called out the lack of work being done.
"To have all this continuous construction over the last three years with no end in sight has been very difficult," Corey Hansen, co-owner of Hansen's Manhattan Deli, previously told Local 5.
Now, the city is explaining why workers along the road aren't always seen on site.
"They are behind schedule. They are months behind schedule," said City Engineer Steven Naber, referring to the construction crews. "Due to utility conflicts, we've actually found some lead service water pipes that we need to replace, and so that's added some work to their effort."
Naber and other city engineering staff members understand where the frustration is coming from.
“There’s been a lot of construction to say the least on Ingersoll, which is very impactful to those that live, work and play along that corridor," he added.
The project they've received complaints on in recent months is the Western Ingersoll Sewer Separation Project, which will reduce flow to waste facilities and prevent sewer overflows.
While there are delays, the city says they’re doing everything they can to speed up the process.
“We’ve been meeting with their leadership to take steps to move this along, even if it means bringing in other contractors to move this project along," Naber said. "We’re hopeful that Ingersoll Avenue and 39th Street, these pieces of the sewer separation project, will be wrapped up by Thanksgiving, hopefully sooner."
Weather has also played a role: rain on Tuesday kept crews from getting started, the city said in response to a Manhattan Deli post on Facebook:
"Crews were ready to start a water main alteration at 39th and Ingersoll yesterday when it began raining in the morning. The rain lingered until 10 AM and crews went home for the day. It resumed raining in the afternoon. Our inspector reported that site conditions were very wet (1.5” per DSM Airport) this morning. They returned to Ingersoll this afternoon near 39th and began pavement removals for the above mentioned alteration and storm sewer install. They will be in the area of 39th for the remainder of the week."
For updates on the construction, click here.