Duluth to dig up a section of Superior Street - again

Less than a year after wrapping up construction on the first phase of a massive rebuild of the main route through downtown Duluth, the city plans to begin digging up that section of the street again next week to repair a water leak.

City crews discovered that a coupling on the water main installed last summer under Superior Street between the library and the Radisson Hotel is leaking.

Excavation to replace the coupling will begin Monday. Crews will also replace a second, similar coupling as a precautionary measure.

"Nobody's happy about this," conceded Duluth senior engineer Duncan Schwensohn. "I think everybody tried very hard and worked very hard last year to do the best project we could, and to have something like this happen is obviously not ideal.

"We'll go down there, get it fixed, and hopefully won't have to go back there again for a good long while."

Construction is expected to take about a month, during which time crews also will replace some concrete from last year's construction that had cracked. Superior Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues west will be closed during that time.

Crews also will construct permanent sidewalks and plant trees — work that wasn't finished last fall.

Schwensohn said construction will be completed by the start of Grandma's Marathon on June 22.

Meanwhile, work continues on the second phase of the Superior Street rebuild, between Lake Avenue and Fourth Avenue East.

Crews are replacing the aging, iconic bricks on the street's surface with multi-colored concrete, as well as replacing utility lines deep underneath the thoroughfare that date to the 1880s. Old trolley tracks are also being removed.

The city is also converting its energy system that heats downtown buildings from steam to a more-efficient hot water distribution system.

The final section of reconstruction work is scheduled for the summer of 2020.