A $1.9 million contract was awarded to Mozingo Construction for the construction of a sewer line down Service Road between Moffet Road and Mitchell Road.

The line is intended to give relief to the heavily burdened sewer line in Don Pedro Road. It is part of a sewer master plan adopted by the city to reduce the chances for a sewer overflow.

Currently the east side of Ceres is connected to the west side sewer treatment plant by a line that goes east on Service Road, north on Moffet Road, underneath the freeway and east on Don Pedro Road to Mitchell Road.

Earlier this year the city built a $1.18 million sewer line from the sewer plant east to Service Road to Moffet Road. The new line on Service Road was upgraded from the 18-inch diameter to a 42-inch diameter. The new project will continue that 42-inch-diameter line all the way east to Mitchell Road.

The new project is not considered to be "sexy" nor will result in any noticeable change but City Manager Toby Wells said "it's huge in the grand scheme of things."

"That is a very old line that is significantly limited in capacity," said City Manager Toby Wells. "It fixes the limitation and provides for the ultimate development of sewer capacity on the east side. It gets rid of a significant bottleneck."

The project will also enhance the development of the Southern Gateway commercial area on Mitchell Road at Highway 99, Wells said.

The project is expected to commence this fall and could be hampered by wet weather. The project is particularly expensive because the contractor must "jack and bore" a pipeline underneath the expansive stretch of the railroad line and Highway 99 lanes approximately 12 feet deep.

The project is being funded by the city's capital improvement project funds and RDA bond proceeds.