SAN ANTONIO – It’s a case of short-term pain for long-term gain as a flood control project in one San Antonio neighborhood is causing some traffic detours. McCullough Avenue is closed between Oblate Drive and Shannon Lee Street for the next few months.
Crews started work on phase two of the Barbara Drive drainage project on Jan. 4.
“For many, many years, that area right there, Barbara Drive and McCullough, when you would get any kind of rain more than just a sprinkling, it would flood up considerably…and cause quite a bit of damage,” said Paul Berry, chief communications officer for San Antonio Public Works.
So, crews are digging to replace storm drain boxes that will add capacity for better drainage. The work is more intensive than the first phase, which means that stretch of McCullough Avenue has to close.
“Any time we do a construction project that requires us to close the road, we understand that drivers and even residents will be inconvenienced, and it can be frustrating,” Berry said. “So that’s why we try to do these things as quickly as we can, as efficiently as we can and as correctly as we can.”
Berry said crews already plan to make changes to the detour, ending it at Sharon Drive instead of Shannon Lee Street, because that’s easier for drivers to navigate.
The work is expected to wrap up in the spring, with no further closures expected in the area.
The $8 million project is being paid for with proceeds from the 2017 bond program approved by voters.
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