Project Purpose:
Replace aging, leak-prone gas and water mains to improve safety and reliability, and reduce service disruptions and routine maintenance costs.
Project Overview
The Charlottesville Department of Utilities is preparing to launch the West Main Street Utilities Replacement Project, a major infrastructure investment designed to strengthen utility services for decades to come. A continuation of Utilities' city-wide implementation of planned infrastructure improvements, this project will be a multi-year effort conducted in phases, replacing aging gas and water mains along University Avenue, West Main Street, and select side streets. This project represents a strategic investment in Charlottesville's future, with Phase One scheduled to begin in summer 2026.
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What's Being Replaced:
About 8,680 feet of cast-iron water mains with new ductile iron, and about 13,660 feet of cast-iron gas piping with corrosion-resistant high-density polyethylene pipe (HDPE).
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Funding:
The project will be paid with enterprise funds and through grant support from the Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization grant program.
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Community Impact:
Construction will occur in phases and implemented to help facilitate efficiency and minimize inconvenience. Advance notice of the start of each phase, updates on construction, and information on planned community outreach events will be communicated throughout the duration of the project.
Phase One
Phase One is scheduled to begin in summer 2026 in the area between the Beta Bridge and the Chancellor Street and University Avenue intersection. The estimated time of construction for this phase is four and a half months. This phase of the project will replace aging gas infrastructure only, with future phases replacing both gas and water main infrastructure simultaneously.
In 2023, the Department of Utilities was awarded a $7.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and its Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, through the Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization (NGDISM) grant program. The NGDISM program is part of the broader Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a bipartisan law providing nearly $1 billion in federal funding to support public gas systems' efforts to repair, rehabilitate, and replace aging pipes and reduce methane emissions. All gas main replacement work for this project will be supported through this funding.
