From the cover
Upgrading West U’s drainage
BY MELISSA ENAJE
What residents should know
The full story
West University Place’s Public Works Director Danny Cameron said the west side drainage project benefits current and future drainage systems. For storms that are expected to occur once every 100 years on average, streets and sidewalks are meant to become part of the drainage system, he said. For every 1 inch in reduction of floodwater for a typical lot, residents would see a roughly 6-foot lateral shift, Beach said, meaning the water would be roughly 6 feet farther away if a Hurri- cane Harvey-type event were to occur. Beach said the city’s goal is to always keep water in the city’s right of way so it doesn’t go onto resident property. “The improvements will provide a consistency that residents will have that their property will be safe,” Beach said.
The west side drainage project, set to begin in 2025, will entail installing a new storm sewer trunkline along the west side of the city that would help more efficiently carry water from existing storm sewers to Brays Bayou, City Manager Dave Beach said. In addition to the west side drainage project, similar work is also underway on the east side of the city, and future plans involve rehabilitating Poor Farm Ditch.
In 2019, two years after Hurricane Harvey flooded 116 West U homes, city officials completed a drainage modeling study that found existing conditions in the majority of the city had limited drainage capacity. Various parts of the drainage system could not maintain what is needed for a rainfall that occurs once every two years on average. The results prompted city leaders to seek improvements.
West U’s infrastructure project costs
West side drainage project $70M-$100M
Poor Farm Ditch $31.3M
East side drainage project $15.77M
City boundaries
West side drainage improvement project Timeline: early 2025-31+
EMORY AVE .
Proposed double 10-inch-by-10-inch new trunk sewer line
COLERIDGE ST.
Proposed storm sewer line Existing storm sewer line
RICE BLVD.
RICE BLVD.
Water reduction Drainage projects could shift how close water gets to homes.
AMHERST ST.
MILTON ST.
U N IV E R SI TY BL VD.
CASE ST.
SWARTHMORE ST.
“Typical” lot: home 1’ above curb
Storm water
East side drainage improvement project Timeline: April 2023-2026 Poor Farm Ditch Timeline: early 2025-TBD Poor Farm Ditch project area Poor Farm Ditch
OBERLIN ST.
MARQUETTE ST .
Sidewalk
RILEY ST.
W. POINT DR.
3" reduction in floodwater
Reduced storm water
N
18 ft
SOURCE: CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCE: CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
2024 April 18:
The timeline
Town hall meeting on the Poor Farm Ditch Improvement Project
street closures and reroutes for the duration of the east side drainage project. Travel routes and temporary delays detailed on the city’s website for University Boulevard, from Buffalo Speedway to Kirby Drive, include transitioning two-way traffic to one-way eastbound. The westbound lane closed, and traffic was detoured via Rice Boulevard.
Although construction isn’t anticipated until 2025 for Poor Farm Ditch and the west side drainage project, work will advance in some capacity for both of them in 2024. A town hall will take place April 18 on Poor Farm Ditch with the Harris County Flood Control District, and design work is slated to begin in May on the west side drainage work. Meanwhile, West U residents can expect
Phase 1 of east side drainage project completed; design work could begin on Phase 1 of west side drainage project
May:
Summer: Construction to begin on Phase 2 of east side project
SOURCE: CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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