The project is crucial to continue meeting the growing needs of McKinney and Prosper, McKinney City Manager Paul Grimes said. However, it will be “disruptive.”
“[Our staff] are trying to mitigate some of the impacts, but it's definitely not going to be pleasant,” Grimes said. “We certainly urge folks to be patient and understand this really is progress. And you got to have these things if you like having water and sewer, which we all do.”
In September 2020 the North Texas Municipal Water District held a virtual information meeting about the 6.4-mile sewer transfer pipeline project. Work on the pipeline will begin near the former McKinney landfill and then run northwest south of SH 380 and Ridge Road, the presentation stated.
Scott Hoelzle, wastewater conveyance system manager for the NTMWD, said this location will minimize the overall length and depth of the pipeline since it will follow the creek.
“If you didn't follow the creeks, you would end up going kind of more cross-country and end up with some really deep pipelines,” Hoelzle said.
Population projections show McKinney and Prosper are growing fast, Hoelzle said, and the new pipeline will help the district “stay ahead of that growth.”
“This is going to serve the long-term needs of McKinney and Prosper,” Hoelzle said. “It will take some of the flow off the city’s existing lines and put it in the district lines.”
The pipeline is a NTMWD project, but the district has to work with the cities as work progresses, Grime said. Ultimately the pipeline will be operated and maintained by the district. The project is slated to cost an estimated $38 million, Hoelzle said.
Design work for the pipeline is happening now, and construction should begin in the second quarter of 2022. Work is expected to last about two and a half to three years with construction operating in three phases, Hoelzle said.
More information about the project is available at www.ntmwd.com/projects/mckinney-prosper-transfer-sewer-pipeline.
