NEWPORT NEWS — Work on a drainage improvement project that has torn up streets around Hilton Shopping Center and created headaches for businesses and shoppers is expected to take another year, according to city officials.
It’s been roughly nine months since Newport News paused its work on a drainage improvement project aimed to reduce flooding on Warwick Boulevard. Now, the city says it’s nearly ready to resume construction.
Work on the project began in March 2024, but was put on hold in December when contractors ran into unexpected problems underground, according to Newport News Engineering Director Craig Galant.
Planning for the project dates to 2012 to connect the existing sewer line between Center Avenue and Raleigh Road into the city’s main sewer pipe. That would allow stormwater to drain into a concrete-lined ditch built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960s that flows into the James River.
“When the design was done, and in between the first and second bid, Dominion came in and undergrounded additional power lines that we weren’t aware of,” Galant said. “The fact is, where they undergrounded those was directly in conflict with our stormwater pipe, and we weren’t aware of that.”
The city put the project on hold in December to allow time for Dominion Energy to relocate conflicting underground power lines. The drainage project hasn’t resumed since, which Galant said had ballooned the project’s budget and further delayed other projects such as resurfacing along that corridor.
But the project has been disruptive for some business owners. Danielle Prince, who opened Tastefully Philly Cafe inside Paperbacks Ink bookstore at Hilton Shopping Center roughly a month before construction along Warwick, didn’t know about the planned construction before opening. She said many of the customers who first grew her business didn’t want to deal with the hassle of navigating construction for a meal or a drink.
The shopping center exits onto Warwick, and the road in front of the cafe initially was converted to one lane and briefly had its pavement torn up, according to Prince. Currently, the road is littered with signs and cones funneling traffic, and Woodfin Road across from the shopping center is blocked off.
“We noticed a lot of customers were coming in and say they were looking for us, they couldn’t find us,” Prince said. “Some got turned around, and there were a lot of customers that gave up.”
This year has been tougher than her first, and Prince said she’s not sure how much of that to attribute to construction, the overall economy or the inevitable highs and lows of owning a business.
Galant said he’s heard complaints from residents and businesses about the delays.
With the power lines sorted out, the current plan is for construction to resume in November, which will take an additional year to complete, adding another year to the project’s original timelines. But by the end, Glanat said Warwick Boulevard should no longer see issues with ponding water.
“It makes it a dangerous situation,” he said. “This system should definitely improve that.”
According to Dominion Energy spokesperson Cherise Newsome, the company began relocating two spans of underground power lines in September 2024 in support of the city’s drainage project, which was completed in May. Dominion also began relocating another set of lines in November 2024, which it completed earlier this month.
Newsome said it’s common for agencies to ask Dominion to relocate power lines in support of projects like this one, but they take months do safely move, especially across major intersections like along Warwick Boulevard.
However, Newsome added Dominion never completed a project on Warwick Boulevard without communicating it with the city.
“Dominion Energy only did anything at the request of the city,” Newsome said.
Prince said some of her customers have started to return and delivery app revenue has helped her sustain the cafe during the construction work. But she said nearly another year of construction is a lot to ask local business owners to endure, especially when customers can find alternatives along easier routes.
“It makes you question yourself as a business owner over stability and longevity,” Prince said. “Because that’s the goal, to be self-sufficient and have that longevity.”
Devlin Epding, 757-510-4037, devlin.epding@virginiamedia.com