Richard Terrell, superintendent of Public Works field operations, said workers are installing additional drainage space in hopes of solving the street's standing water problems.
Rosemary Street has been completely blocked off from Cottage Lane to Pickard Lane -- with through traffic restricted from Hillsborough Street to Henderson Street -- since Monday.
"The reason we are closing the street is because it is a narrow street with a lot of traffic," Terrell said. "And it was necessary to expedite the project and for safety reasons."
Construction workers are doubling the area of the catch basins, or gutters, on each side of the street that help collect runoff rainwater from the street.
"We've had some ponding of water in that location when debris gets in those grates," Terrell said.
"Straw, leaves, or twigs will flow down during rainfall and clog it up."
Terrell also said that because the problems stem from gutter blockage, the project will not entail installing additional piping underground.
"The flow capacity (of the pipe), according to our engineering department, is not the problem," Terrell explained. "But the number of the basins needs to be increased."
This project is not part of a drainage system overhaul for Chapel Hill, Terrell said.
