(Washington, DC) – DC Water is performing construction activities on First Street, NW as part of the McMillan Stormwater Storage Project.

First Street between Channing Street NW and Michigan Avenue NW will remain closed to both northbound/southbound traffic through July 2014. It is advised that North Capitol Street be used as an alternative route for travel on First Street.

Important Information:
* During the First Street closure, dump trucks leaving the work site will need to follow a modified hauling route to include travel southbound on First Street, turning eastbound on Bryant Street and proceeding southbound on North Capitol Street.

* Construction operations for all partial road closures will be from 7:00am to 7:00pm, Monday through Friday; construction operations for all full road closures will be 24 hours, Monday through Saturday.

* Temporary traffic signs will be set up throughout the area to alert motorists to the upcoming traffic changes.

* Some traffic delays within the vicinity of the work zones are anticipated.

* Sidewalk detours will also be implemented.

* Noise levels will be closely monitored during construction.

Project Details
DC Water will construct two underground structures to divert stormwater into a temporary holding tank within the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant and existing trunk sewer. The two diversion structures at North Capitol Street and First Street will work together with the retention basins along Irving Street to delay approximately 4.5 million gallons of stormwater from reaching the Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park neighborhoods during heavy rainfall events.

This is a two-phase project. The first phase, completed in 2013, included removal of sand from two tanks. The second phase of the project is currently underway, and includes work on North Capitol Street, First Street and Irving Street.

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About DC Water
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water), is an industry leading multi-jurisdictional regional utility that provides drinking water, wastewater collection and treatment to 600,000 residential, commercial and governmental customers in the District of Columbia, 17.8 million annual visitors and also collects and treats wastewater for 1.6 million customers in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in Maryland and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia.

DC Water’s service area covers approximately 725 square miles and the company operates the world’s largest advanced wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 370 million gallons per day and a peak capacity of 1.076 billion gallons per day.