Willow Street drainage work is now under way

Construction began a bit over a month ago on the South Willow Drainage Project that Franklin’s mayor and council hope will alleviate drainage problems in that area.
Engineer Reid Miller, Miller Engineers & Associates, said drainage ditch cleaning has been ongoing in the area that the project will serve.
A barge will bring in a crane to unload materials and pumps to construct the structure by next week. Expected completion may be by December 10.
There will also be pumps delivered in January for the Franklin Canal pump station. The Willow Street project will deliver water into the Franklin Canal, which will then be expunged into the section of the canal past the existing structure.
“Right now the water is draining through…the canal that connects into Augustine Maze (Street),” Miller said. “That’s water coming from, really, up to the railroad track…down Martin Luther King, everything on that side of Willow Street back to the Park Avenue area, is all coming to that ditch. Right now it’s draining across Highway 90…so that water’s having to go a long way, we’re going to bring it to the Franklin Canal and leave the cross-drains there in case you have a significant rain event, you still have that overflow.”
The Franklin Canal currently drains the opposite side of Willow Street, Miller said.
Miller said some low areas could still hold water that could be addressed as they are revealed.
“That drainage system was put in piece-by-piece,” he said.
The state has dedicated $1 million to the nearby Yokely Drainage project, which will not completely cover dredging and widening, Miller said. Right-of-way acquisition is under way.