Dallas

Rainy Weather Recalls Dallas Flood Concerns

Mill Creek Drainage solution years away

Rainy weather in Dallas worries people in low lying areas that still lack protection from the Mill Creek Tunnel.

The project under construction is intended to solve Uptown and East Dallas flood problems.

The Baylor Medical Center area saw a major flood in 2006. Other East Dallas neighborhoods have flooded many times over the years.

"If it rains really hard and the wind doesn't blow, that's when we get scared," said Vickery Place resident Michael Rieves.

He lives on Goodwin Avenue at a spot where the original Mill Creek would have crossed before it was paved over as Dallas was developed around a century ago.

"I've seen a VW Jetta floating here in the last flood about 10 years ago," he said.

Unfortunately for Rieves, the new flood control project just to the south falls just short of solving the problem in his neighborhood.

"They had to do down there first, because to do up here is just going to flood the Baylor Hospital even worse," Rieves said.

The $300 million Mill Creek Tunnel is a 5-mile long flood control structure.

Six access point construction sites are open along the route.

The outfall of the tunnel is planned at White Rock Creek near Scyene Road where the boring machine is being built.

A neighbor at that site said officials recommended flood insurance, even though residents there had never seen flooding before. The neighbor was concerned the tunnel could create flooding in that neighborhood. The neighbor also worried about heavy truck traffic carrying dirt away from the tunnel boring site.

Dallas City Councilman Adam Bazaldua who represents that neighborhood said he has heard those same concerns from other residents. He said he was scheduled to tour the tunnel outfall site Friday to get answers from officials for himself.

A lack of money and then a bidding controversy delayed the project over the years.

"They were discussing it when I first moved here 20 something years ago," Rieves said.

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