DALLAS — Vicky Rios has lived in her Carroll Avenue house for almost 30 years.
“Right now, you see the water is stuck in there,” Rios said, pointing to the intersection of Carroll Ave. and Victor St. Thursday afternoon. “But when [it] rains, all the water over there, [it’s] like a creek.”
And she’ll tell you: Her neighborhood – an area east of Deep Ellum – is prone to flooding.
Rios told WFAA her home took on 14 inches of water last September.
“I lost my fridge, my washing machine, my stove, everything,” Rios said.
Rios lives next to a construction site where crews have been working on the Mill Creek Drainage Relief Tunnel, a project that started in March 2018.
The five-mile underground tunnel is expected to provide “100-year flood protection” for nearly 2,200 commercial and residential properties, according to the City of Dallas.
The tunnel is some 150 feet below the ground. The project was paid for with bond money.
“They send me a letter the other day. They're supposed to be -- for some reason -- want to work 24 hours,” Rios said of the notice she received from crews.
The goal of this underground tunnel is to reduce flooding around Fair Park, the area near Baylor Hospital, and the State Thomas neighborhood.
“We have completed the excavation of the main tunnel. We are preparing to begin the concrete lining of the tunnel,” the tunnel’s Sr. Project Manager, Milton Brooks, said.
Originally, the plan was for this project to be completed this year. But now, the goal is 2025.
“It took longer to excavate the tunnel than we had estimated for it to do,” Brooks said. “There were some issues with the tunnel boring machine and some of the conveyor system that we used to remove the muck.”
Rios says she actually doesn’t mind the construction next door: She just wants to see actual change when it’s all done.
“We expecting something for real, better for the area,” Rios told WFAA.