Tunnel Project Moves Ahead LAFAYETTE, IN (wbaa) - A multi-million dollar underground sewer project in downtown Lafayette is moving ahead.

City officials are hiring two engineering firms to handle design and oversight.

Water Pollution Control Superintendent Brad Talley says an underground tunnel will be built from the Pearl River Lift Station, which is currently under construction near First and Chestnut Streets, run along Second Street, and end at Riehle Plaza.

It is designed to keep raw sewage from running into the Wabash River during heavy rainfall.

Talley says the city is spending close to a half-million dollars to hire a firm to oversee the design and create a website to provide up-to-date information.

The second company will be paid just over one-million dollars to handle on-site inspections.

Talley says construction should begin by mid-July and be completed by late summer of next year.

The entire project is expected to cost around 27.5-million dollars.

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