GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) — Westbound South Airport Road just west of Park Drive is closed Wednesday with no estimated reopening date as crews work to repair a broken sewer line, while eastbound traffic remains open.
Right now, there’s a sanitary sewer overflow along South Airport Road.
The Department of Public Works was contacted Tuesday.
This, after sewage was seen coming up through the pavement on the west side of South Airport Road between Park Drive and Cass Road.
The director of Public Works says sewage failures are not uncommon, but usually not this catastrophic.
Crews are working to break the road up further to get a closer look at the issue.
“We don’t see it very often, but sometimes you will see a sewer main break, a water main break,” Grand Traverse County Road Commission Manager Dan Watkins said. “Unfortunately, a lot of utilities run underneath the roadways, and when they break, they take out the roads.”
A major concern for crews is diverting the flow of sewage so it does not go into the Boardman River at the bottom of the hill.
The Grand Traverse County Health Department issued a Level 4 no-body-contact advisory for the water in Boardman Lake and the Boardman/Ottaway River while this is happening.
The County Road Commission says it does not know how long it’ll take to repair the sewer and road.
Drivers can expect South Airport Road to be completely closed Wednesday going westbound and restricted to one lane going east.