The collapse of a section of six-foot-diameter corrugated metal drainage pipe lying beneath Mile Hill Road has prompted the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to start work on some “high priority repairs” to rectify the problem.

Consequently, the section of Mile Hill Road lying between its intersections with Queen Street and with Mile Hill Road South has been narrowed with the placement of concrete barrier rails on the street, shifting two-way traffic there to the northern side of the wide road.

That traffic shift allows construction work to safely progress on an embankment on the southern side of the street. The failed drainage pipe enters an eroded embankment on the southern side of the road and passes diagonally beneath the street, carrying Deep Brook south-to-north while an estimated 30 feet below the road’s surface.

DOT Spokesman Kevin Nursick said May 6 that the construction work began on April 30. The estimated $200,000 project is expected to be completed by sometime in June, he said.

Due to the drainage pipe’s partial collapse and blockage, Deep Brook’s water has ponded at the foot of the road embankment south of Mile Hill Road. Workers are using a large pump to channel water from the ponded area into another nearby stream.

A cofferdam will be built to create a dry area where drainage repairs can be made, Mr Nursick said.

If necessary, traffic on the affected section of Mile Hill Road will travel alternately in two directions and be controlled by signalmen as work progresses, he said.