AUBURN – Construction of a storm sewer system under Shepley Street should continue through November, according to city officials.

Project engineer Jonathan Earle said crews from Pratt and Sons should finish digging and burying the storm sewer mains and catch basins by mid-November, and then complete a rough paving.

“No matter what, we expect to get the first coat of pavement down before the snow flies,” Earle said. “It will be winterized, just in time for winter.”

Paving crews will be back in the spring to put a final coat down, he said.

Earle said he met with Shepley Street residents Wednesday evening at the work site to review the progress.

Neighbors were concerned that the project was behind schedule.

“It’s not delayed at all,” he said. “It may be going a little slower than we might have expected, but we still plan to have the pipe in the ground this season. And we expect to have the road buttoned back up before the snow flies.”

The project is part of the state-mandated storm water overflow projects.

Much of Auburn has combined sewer overflow systems that link storm drains with sanitary sewers from homes and businesses.

The street runoff can overwhelm the treatment plant during heavy storms, and that forces a combination of storm water and sewage into the river.

Auburn is halfway through a 14-year effort to build a new parallel storm runoff system, according to Public Works Director Bob Belz.

“And I think we’re just a whisker ahead of schedule at this point,” Belz said. Crews have sealed seven of the 11 river overflow points starting in Auburn.

Work on the Shepley Street project began early in September.

The sewer project will extend from Lake Street all the way south to Gamage Avenue, about 1,800 feet.