Bondurant Street is an approximately 650-foot-long road that's adjacent to the west side of Washington Community High School.
The short street has caused a long list of problems for the high school over the past decade because of six water main breaks in 10 years.
Traffic around the high school is a mess each time there's a break, impacting drop-offs and and pickups. Inside, the lack of water causes another set of issues.
For all those reasons, replacing the water main under Bondurant along the entire length of the street from U.S. Business Route 24 north to West Jefferson Street for an estimated $360,000 is on the City of Washington's list of proposed capital projects for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which starts May 1.
"Most of the water main breaks on Bondurant have been up on the northern end of the street near Jefferson," said City Engineer Dennis Carr. "These breaks get a bit hairy because the school is involved."
School Board President Jennifer Essig agrees.
"We're happy to finally have this issue addressed," she said. "Every time the main breaks, it's a disruption to the school."
The proposed capital projects and public works equipment needs for the upcoming fiscal year were presented during the Washington City Council meeting Monday as a kickoff to the city's 2026-27 budget process.
Carr was joined by Public Works Director Brian Rittenhouse and Budget Director Joanie Baxter in the presentation, which included a map with accompanying information about each proposed project.
Carr said that although there are projects planned throughout the city, "the east side is getting more attention because of the age of the infrastructure there."
Among other proposed projects are an estimated $100,000 extension of the Elgin Avenue sidewalk from the Bobolink Drive rec trail to the Grandyle Drive sidewalk that will give Central School District students a safer route to and from school, and a $100,000 redundant water main for Sunnyland, which currently is served by only one water main.
New City Administrator Jeff Fiegenschuh, who is beginning his fifth week on the job, said he's taking a backseat as the city's 2026-27 budget is put together so he can focus on getting up to speed on the process.
"I'll be more involved in the budget next year," he said.
Fiegenschuh also told the council he's working on the top 10 strategic goals the council identified last year.
The goals garnering most of his attention at the moment are a comprehensive development plan for Washington Plaza, how to implement upcoming recommendations from a space needs study, the establishment of performance expectations for city employees along with an annual review process, and a compensation analysis for recruitment, retention and organizational stability.
Also Monday, Alderperson Todd Sluder announced he and Alderperson Paula Johnson will hold a Ward 1 "Let's Talk Washington" informal discussion session from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Washington District Library main branch at Five Points.
