What’s that? Storm work aims to clean up Pierson Road rubble near Flint Park Lake

FLINT, MI - An orange barrel that's been blocking a rough patch of Pierson Road for years is about to be retired because the city is fixing an underlying problem that the obstacle masked.

A Flint Sewer Department crew started work this week to upgrade a storm sewer beneath Pierson Road near Flint Park Lake, a fix designed to avoid the need to dig up the street section to clear debris from an underground stormwater vault.

"Once the work is complete, the barrel in the left-turn lane on Pierson Road near Susan Street, will be gone for good," Entrice Jiggy Mitchell, Flint's sewer system supervisor, said in a statement released by the city.

Traffic on Pierson Road was blocked on Tuesday, Nov. 12, as the work, expected to be completed by this time next week, continued.

Flint Park Lake - also known as Devil's Lake - has been used as a dumping ground for trash, old furniture - and, on occasion, bodies - for decades.

It was previously a part of a 36-acre amusement park with roller coasters, a skating rink and a dance hall, but those activities closed down in 1961 after 40 years of operation.

It has also been one of the city's most flood-prone areas because of debris that collects in the underground vault.

A news release from the city says workers have had to repeatedly break up Pierson Road to remove branches and whatever else has been dumped in Flint Park Lake.

The city's announcement says two existing 24-inch drainage pipes from the lake will be replaced by a single 48-inch storm main.

"The larger pipe should drastically improve the flow, eliminating the drainage issues we've repeatedly had to deal with," Mitchell said.

The city said the repeatedly-repaired section of Pierson Road will be paved over once the switch is complete.

"We have been working on a solution to this issue for a while," Mayor Sheldon Neeley said in a statement from the city. "I'm excited for the crews to get to work next week, and I know that residents will be pleased to see the road repaired once and for all."