City of Milton working to replace all aging natural gas lines throughout city

MILTON, Fla. — The City of Milton is working to replace all of the aging natural gas lines throughout the city.

Some of the pipes are at least 80 years old.

The work is part of a $10 million grant the city applied for in 2022.

At first, the city only planned to replace some of the aging lines. But by ordering the materials tax-free, directional drilling and strong project management, the city was able to save money.

A request has now been submitted to use the left over grant money to replace all of the aging gas lines with a more resilient material.

“You don’t normally hear this in the news. You hear cost overruns,” said Sandra Woodbery, assistant city manager. “This is a big accomplishment and it could not have occurred without the entire team. From the city staff to the project manager to the contractor. It could not have happened.”

The natural gas line replacement project is expected to be complete by January 2027.

A driving force behind the project is the waiting list for residents who want to convert to natural gas.

Woodbery says crews have been so busy repairing the old lines, there hasn’t been the time to tackle the waiting list.

“The biggest thing that I see coming out of this is that our staff won’t be focused in on repairing,” she said. “They’ll be focused in on providing additional service.”

The city broke ground on the project last year. Most recently, crews have been working in East Milton.

The work will soon shift to the west side of town and is expected to continue there until April.

The goal is to replace these lines with a more modern material that should lead to less problems in the long run.

The entire natural gas line replacement project is expected to be complete by January 2027.