It’s been over a year since construction crews started ripping up streets around Arcata, replacing important water and sewage infrastructure, some of it nearing a century old. But the project is very close to being done. 

City officials named it the “steel waterline replacement project,” but a lot more than just steel waterline has been replaced since it kicked off in July of 2025. Underground, Arcata was rife with aging control valves and water meters, near-death asbestos cement pipe, and undersized water mains. Updating it was costly. The city had to spend about $12 million on the project, which replaced around 10% of the city’s network. 

The city’s project manager, Steven Luu, told the Outpost that he expected work to finish sometime in September or October, though the contractor, McCullough Construction, could take as late as December. The only section remaining is in Sunny Brae, on Shirley Boulevard and the connected cul-de-sacs, though it’ll take another week or two to finish work near city hall on Seventh Street. 

Crews closed streets block-by-block, starting with the areas deemed most likely to have issues. Slapping “Band-Aids” on leaky pipes, repairing them piecemeal as they fail, is a more expensive strategy in the long run than replacing them all, and city crews did have to repair some sections of failed watermain right before the contractor replaced them. 

Residents have had to put up with some inconveniences. Detouring around blocked streets, navigating patchy asphalt and infrequent water turnoffs is annoying, but the project has measurably improved Arcata’s infrastructure, Luu said. Many of the city’s fire hydrants were being serviced by undersized water mains two inches smaller than the standard. Some neighborhoods didn’t have enough hydrants to begin with. Crews installed new hydrants and properly sized pipes. That’s an obvious safety improvement, but residents may also be able to pay lower home insurance premiums if they can prove they’re closer to a hydrant, Luu said. 

The new water meters are better too. They allow residents to measure their water consumption hour-by-hour online (check that out here), which could help someone diagnose a leak or their biggest sources of usage.

Luu said he was thankful that most people have patiently dealt with the inconveniences, and he asks that drivers near the next work site be cautious and drive slowly.