June 2025 - NEW Water was featured on WBAY, highlighting the Downtown Interceptors Renewal Project. The segment focused on infrastructure improvements to nearly century-old pipes, which are being renewed to extend their lifespan and maintain reliable service to the community.
The WBAY story is found below. To see the story on WBAY, please visit: Pipes being repaired in Green Bay may impact downtown businesses | wbay.com >>
Pipes being repaired in Green Bay may impact downtown businesses
By Jeremy Wall
Some sewage pipes in Green Bay will be getting improvements.
The pipes on Adams Street and Main Street are nearly a century old and will be repaired by creating new pipes within the existing ones.
People can expect road, sidewalk, and bike trail closures. NEW Water, who owns the pipes, said the project will be fully underway soon and is expected to be completed by next year.
One business owner said he’s not worried about construction impacting them.
Rick Chernick is the CEO of Camera Corner, one of many businesses located on Main Street. He’s optimistic his business will be fine during the pipe renewal project.
“I know through the years, and I’ve been here a long time that customers adapt really well. If they want to, they will get to you. And people tolerate things pretty well,” Chernick said.
He said that when construction is in full swing, he’ll help his customers find other ways to get to Camera Corner.
“Once it starts happening and it directly affects us on the intersection that we’re at, then will help our customers adapt to finding a way in and through the back alley perhaps or through the front here,” Chernick said.
The pipes have been around since the 1930’s. After this project, they will have a new interior lining which will extend their life for decades
“As pipes serve the community, they become aged, they crack, there’s depositions in these pipes, and so we’re renewing them, giving them a new life,” Nathan Qualls, Executive Director of NEW Water said.
The project is expected to cost nearly $29 million. Funding is coming from the user fees and rates of its municipal customers.
“It is quite common that cities that have infrastructure like this, they’ve been in place a really long time. What we’re doing here is instead of digging up existing pipe and replacing it with new pipe, what we’re seeing in the industry is just lining the existing pipe. This is really common approach,” Qualls said.
NEW Water said no water or no sanitary sewer wastewater services will be disrupted.
To learn more about this project, and/or to sign up for project updates, please visit www.newwater.us/downtown