Part of Sandage Avenue will be closed for two months while the water department upgrades sewer lines.

The construction will block Sandage Avenue from Bowie Street to Devitt Street. DeAnn Jones, Coordinator of Parking and Transportation Services for the TCU Police Department, said that the Sandage parking lot would remain open throughout the construction. 

The old sewage lines are deteriorating and are not big enough to handle the new businesses and residences they serve, said Mary Gugliuzza, the Fort Worth Water Department media relations and communications coordinator.

Currently, the sewage line is underneath buildings in the middle of the block. The new lines will be moved under the street for easier access. 

Ark Contracting was awarded the renovation project. It will cost the city $2,073,444, Gugliuzza said.

John Winfield owns The Printing Machine on Sandage Avenue. The only parking available to his customers is blocked by the construction. 

“I’ve had a couple customers today that said they had to park up the street at Walgreens and walk down here,” Winfield said. He said he has seen a decrease in the amount of walk-in customers.

Sandage Avenue is only a portion of the project. Upgrades to the sewage lines will also close parts of Cleburne Road, Townsend Drive, Gordon Avenue, Livingston Avenue, Frazier Avenue and Shaw Street. 

The construction crews will work one street at a time along the Berry Street corridor, Gugliuzza said. 

Ark Contracting said Berry Street would not be closed for this stage of the project.