AUBURN – Crews digging along Winter Street in Auburn are expected to continue their work Monday, expanding their project to Parker Street.

Crews from Longchamps and Sons began digging along Chestnut Street between the Pettengill Park gully and Winter Street. It’s the first part of the summer-long Perryville Neighborhood combined sewer overflow project.

Crews are scheduled to wrap up work on Chestnut Street this week and begin digging along Winter Street north to Bates Street. They’ll also continue working east along Parker Street to Turner Street.

Federal stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are helping to pay for the project, one of the biggest storm water separation projects on the city’s to-do list. It includes the Perryville neighborhood east of Pettengill Park. That includes Turner, Summer, Winter and Whitney streets from Center Street northwest to Mayfield Road.

The project involves the installation of new sanitary sewers and storm drain lines, keeping storm water completely away from the city’s sanitary wastewater sewer system. The new storm drains and sanitary sewers will replace a 100-year-old combined sewer system. Approximately 17,000 feet of new pipe will be installed in the neighborhood this summer.

The Auburn Sewer District received a $689,293 grant and a $1.66 million no interest loan to pay for the work, saving the city about $1.6 million.