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Work began Wednesday on repairing a major storm sewer collapse on West Lexington Avenue that happened last Thursday. Winchester City Manager Mike Flynn said the work should take about five days and cost the city $92,000.

The Board of Commissioners is expected to declare an emergency during its meeting next Tuesday to pay for the project.

The collapse occurred after heavy rainfall.

Flynn said there was some deterioration prior to the collapse Thursday. It didn’t happen only because of the rain.

The Allen Company of Winchester was working on the repair Wednesday morning on Blanton Alley, which runs between Wainscott and Taylor Avenues.

Flynn said the project will involve laying about 100 feet of 24-inch pipe and building two catch-basin boxes.

It doesn’t appear that the contractors will have to dig up any of Lexington Avenue to repair the lines, he said.

The city manager said the storm sewer in that location drains an area that runs from Hickman Avenue to College Park.

Nearby Fitch Avenue, he mentioned, is the dividing line between the part of Winchester that drains to the Kentucky River and the part that is part of the Licking River’s basin.