The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) will invest approximately $81 million to replace and monitor aging water infrastructure along 14 Mile Road in Oakland County following four major water main breaks in the corridor over the past seven years.

The two-phase project will improve reliability for a section of the regional water system serving southeast Michigan. Phase one will replace approximately 3 miles of 48-inch prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP) with 54-inch steel pipe between Haggerty Road and Farmington Road. Construction is scheduled to begin in November 2026 and continue through early 2028.

Phase two will inspect an additional 3-mile section of 54-inch PCCP extending east to GLWA's Franklin Pump Station. The authority will repair pipe segments identified during the inspection and install an acoustic fiber optic (AFO) monitoring system capable of continuously detecting leaks and wire breaks, key indicators of PCCP deterioration.

"The repeated water main breaks along the 14 Mile corridor made it clear that we need a more comprehensive approach to ensuring the level of service our communities need and deserve," said Suzanne Coffey, GLWA's chief executive officer, in a statement.

According to GLWA, the AFO technology provides real-time pipeline monitoring to help utilities estimate the remaining service life of PCCP infrastructure and identify problems before failures occur. The authority became the first Michigan utility to deploy the technology earlier this year on another section of 14 Mile Road in Novi.

GLWA said traffic impacts are expected during construction, but water service disruptions should be minimal. The authority is coordinating with local communities and the Road Commission for Oakland County on traffic management plans and will host public meetings before construction begins.

The project is part of GLWA's broader capital improvement program, which invests hundreds of millions of dollars annually in drinking water and wastewater infrastructure serving nearly 3.9 million people across eight counties in southeast and mid-Michigan.