Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District

press release: The Madison Metropolitan Sewer District’s West Intercepting System is a complex network of parallel sewers that provides service to the near west side of the city of Madison, the city of Middleton, the village of Shorewood Hills and the town of Westport. The original West Interceptor was built in 1916 and extended in 1932. There have been several extensions, reliefs and replacements added to the system over the years. There are currently three district interceptor pipes in the Shorewood Hills area. The 1932 West Interceptor and the 1971 West Interceptor Midvale Relief have adequate capacity for the areas they serve. The 1959 West Interceptor Relief is at or nearing its maximum capacity throughout the majority of the project area. The purpose of the current project is to relieve the capacity constraints in the existing 1959 West Interceptor Relief.

The last upgrade to the West Intercepting System was the West Interceptor Campus Relief project which was constructed in four phases from 1999 through 2004. The upstream end of the Campus Relief project was on the east side of Walnut Street on the north side Campus Drive. The current project, the West Interceptor Shorewood Relief, is approximately two miles long. The downstream end is west of Walnut Street and north of Campus Drive in the Highland Street exit ramp. The upstream end is in Indian Hills Park.

The district and our consultant, Strand Engineers Inc., are early in the design process for the Shorewood Relief. Plans for the overall project are scheduled to be complete in summer 2020. Due to the length of the project it is anticipated that construction will take place in three phases. Construction of Phase 1 will begin in early spring 2021 and final completion of Phase 3 construction is anticipated to conclude in fall 2023.

The district will be holding a public information-involvement meeting on Oct. 21, 2019 to discuss the overall project and alternative construction corridors for certain portions of the project. The meeting will be held at the UW Credit Union Building at 3500 University Avenue from 5:30 to 7 p.m. All interested parties are invited to attend.

The West Interceptor Shorewood Relief project reflects the district’s efforts to maintain adequate system capacity to serve our customer communities and protect the environment. More information about the project is available on the district’s website, search: Shorewood Relief.

ABOUT THE DISTRICT

Established in 1930 to protect the lakes and streams of the upper Yahara watershed, Madison

Metropolitan Sewerage District today serves 26 Madison area customer communities covering some 184 square miles and 360,000 people. The district owns and operates 141 miles of pipe and 18 regional pumping stations that convey approximately 41 million gallons of wastewater to the Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant each day. Organized as a municipal corporation, the district is a leader in sustainability and resource reclamation; its rates are established by the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District Commission.