A major £7.8 million wastewater improvement project has got underway in Portadown.

NI Water is leading the scheme on Meadow Lane, which will reduce the risk of out of sewer flooding with infrastructure upgrades.

The work will involve a major upgrade at Meadow Lane Wastewater Pumping Station (WwPS) located adjacent to Meadow Lane East car park; the provision of a sizeable new stormwater storage tank at the WwPS site and the laying of new large diameter sewers, mainly by means of underground tunnelling.

John Griffin NI Water's Head of Wastewater Capital Procurement (Infrastructure) said: "NI Water is delighted to announce this major £7.8 million investment for the local wastewater infrastructure, which will benefit our customers in the Portadown area, bringing key improvements, such as reducing the risk of out of sewer flooding and boosting economic growth and future development.

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"This major investment will also bring about key environmental benefits, ensuring NI Water complies with Northern Ireland Environmental Agency (NIEA) standards to improve the water quality in local watercourses."

The work will be undertaken in phases and is expected to take around two years to complete.

Contractor BSG Civil Engineering will begin setting up their site compound on the grass area adjacent to 'Pleasure Gardens Play Area' towards the end of March 2023.

The existing access road to the play area, bowling green and adjacent car park will be closed to facilitate the construction work and a new temporary access road to these areas will be constructed from the council-owned Meadow Lane East car park. Signs will be erected to provide directions for the public during this time.

As part of the work to create this temporary access, the old wall at the back of Meadow Lane East car park will be replaced with new fencing. This will allow a number of car parking spaces, currently fenced off, to be brought back into use.

The existing WwPS at Meadow Lane will remain operational while works are ongoing. As part of the upgrade, the old buildings on the site will be demolished and a new kiosk will be installed. Once the upgrade has been completed, the original access road and footpath will be realigned before being reopened in 2025. The temporary access will then be removed.

As part of this important environmental improvement project, tunnelling works will be required at three strategic locations in private lands off Meadow Lane.