Heavy Rain Causes Flooding Issues On Hwy 75 In McKinney
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MCKINNEY (CBSDFW) - It was a bad morning for commuters in McKinney.
McKinney city officials joined TxDOT workers in cutting off the freeway and then bringing in pumps to clear out the high water. Traffic was finally moving freely by late morning.
It was triggered when water in upper construction levels started draining onto the existing freeway below. The deluge forced rush hour traffic onto side streets.
Motorists vented their feelings at Jack Lee's convenience store. "Everybody's frustrated, everybody's trying to find an alternate route and stuff like that," he told CBS 11 News.
The highway closure was a new wrinkle; McKinney streets have numerous low-water crossings that flood in serious storms. But today's problem was a surprise, water not draining properly up in highway work areas.
The city's assistant public works director was out in the middle of it and helped explain the problem.
"Sometimes when you're in the construction process some of the drainage structures aren't yet completed so you have to work with that process when it's raining," Paul Sparkman said.
Sparkman's workers and TxDOT brought in pumps to drain the roadway and barricades to handle diverted traffic.
"A lot of times when you have construction going on there's some obvious areas that during the construction process slows some of the water drainage down or maybe impedes some of the flow." said Sparkman.
Both directions of US 75 - McKinney's main north-south artery - were closed several hours from El Dorado to Virginia. When one side finally reopened, a traffic wreck closed it down to one lane.
"Every day, everybody's complaining," Jack Lee added. "Especially in rush hours and stuff like that."
Some motorists tell CBS 11 News they just avoid the highway, even on good days. Laura Lee believes the lanes are too narrow for her pickup. "And the 18-wheelers that are driving up and down seem to swerve and stuff and it makes me feel unsafe since I drive such a large vehicle."
But looking ahead to the next round of storms, TxDOT's contractors have an added an additional water pump pump on and are digging an extra large runoff pit to hopefully avoid a repeat of this morning's flood.
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