UGI Utilities – Gas Division will begin a natural gas main replacement project on nine blocks of North 3rd Street in the City of Harrisburg beginning June 2. This project is part of the Company’s multi-year $1.2 billion infrastructure betterment initiative. The focus of this initiative is to replace city cast iron and unprotected steel pipelines with facilities made of contemporary materials.
The 3rd Street infrastructure project extends from Strawberry Street to Forster Street. The project is expected to take three-to-four months to complete. Work will be performed during the evening hours from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. to minimize disruption to traffic and businesses within the construction zone.
Construction will begin near Strawberry Street and move north block-by-block as the project proceeds. UGI will close the block under construction while work takes place, and re-open the street to traffic during daytime hours.
UGI has worked closely with the City of Harrisburg and the Office of Mayor Linda Thompson to minimize the project’s impact on local businesses in the affected area. In particular, efforts are focusin g on managing issues associated with parking accessibility and traffic congestion. However, residents traveling through the area in the evening hours and overnight should be advised that they will likely encounter lane restrictions and some delays.
“UGI recognizes that some residents will be inconvenienced during this project and will work to complete construction in a timely manner,” Robert P. Krieger, vice president of operations, said. “This project is part of UGI’s continuing commitment to provide safe and reliable natural gas service to our customers and our communities and we appreciate our customers’ and the community’s understanding as we make this long-term system improvement. We appreciate the City’s cooperation and assistance in planning and executing this effort.”
Mayor Thompson thanked UGI for its proactive approach to the project.
“I appreciate working closely with UGI projects in the city,” Mayor Thompson said. “I am also heartened to see UGI’s continuing commitment to Harrisburg and its willingness to invest in our community. The city public works department will use this opportunity to explore collateral infrastructure assessments in exposed areas at construction sites. We have a GIS infrastructure assessment in place and I view this as the first phase of the city’s infrastructure renovation program.”
As part of the project, UGI will perform road restoration and sidewalk repair to areas affected by the construction. Restoration will take place shortly after construction is completed.
More than 85 percent of UGI’s 12,000 miles of gas pipelines are currently constructed of contemporary materials. UGI’s 2013 infrastructure betterment plan calls for the Company to spend approximately $71.1 million to replace an additional 63 miles of cast iron and bare steel mains, in addition to completing a variety of system enhancement projects. The 3rd Street project will replace a cast iron main with high-density plastic and cathodically-protected steel.
UGI has been in contact with residents and businesses affected by this project. Whenever appropriate, UGI will replace service lines leading to homes and businesses during the main replacement project and, in some cases, will need to gain access to these buildings.
These construction projects also provide an opportunity for homes and businesses without natural gas service to convert to natural gas. Homeowners who convert can save more than $1,000 per year in energy bills. UGI encourages those along the project route to contact the company at (800) 276-2722 if they are interested in converting to natural gas during construction.
UGI is a natural gas and electric utility company that serves approximately 648,000 customers. Additional information concerning UGI’s infrastructure betterment program is available at www.ugi.com/construction. General information about UGI Utilities is available at www.ugi.com on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ugiutilities or Twitter: www.twitter.com/ugi_utilities.