Construction project to begin beneath Nautical Mile in St. Clair Shores: What to know

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. – A massive underground construction project is going to begin in February beneath the Nautical Mile in St. Clair Shores.

Construction on a new sewer line is expected to begin on Feb. 17, 2025, and not wrap up until early 2027. Even though the construction will be taking place underground, it will still impact drivers on Jefferson Avenue.

The goal of the project is to cut down on sewer discharges into Lake St. Clair. Currently, two pipes flow water upstream and downstream of the storage facilities but only one pipe flows between the two. The project will install a second pipe between the storage facilities.

“So that creates this bottleneck and this is that’s why you end up with more discharge. So, putting an additional 60 inch pipe down between nine mile and 10.5 mile road we won’t have this bottleneck anymore, we’ll have more capacity, and we’ll have less discharges,” St. Clair Shores mayor Kip Walby said.

---> Massive underground project aims to protect Great Lakes from sewage runoff

Timeline for lane closures

Jefferson Avenue will be reduced to two lanes in certain areas, but only the areas where crews are working underground.

There are nine stages planned for the construction. The dates are tentative.

When construction is ongoing from Revere Street to Rosemary Street, north of 10 Mile Road will be one-way traffic. Bon Brae will be fully signed for ingress/egress traffic.

A map of the traffic closures can be found here.