With construction on Newcastle Drive complete, the city is beginning to plan drainage improvements for Baldwin Avenue, a thoroughfare that is known to flood extensively during heavy, prolonged storms.
On Monday the Bellaire City Council learned of options to prevent flooding to homes on Baldwin Avenue — During Tropical Storm Alison in 2001, some homes were underneath up to three feet of water. The council authorized city staffers to move forward and order more detailed plans for improving the drainage system, which should also help remove water from nearby streets.
The improvements will include the installation of an 84-inch stormwater pipe under Baldwin Avenue that is meant to collect water and ferry it away from homes. Engineers will construct a new water detention pond near the city’s wastewater treatment plant that will hold storm water until it can drain into Cypress Ditch and finally Braes Bayou.
Engineers also plan to lower Baldwin Avenue so that homes are well above street level. This will transform the street into its own drainage structure, since water will first flood the street before making its way into homes.
“It’s going to be so much better than it is now,” said City Manager Bernie Satterwhite.
The city estimates the improvements will cost $12.4 million, and METRO has agreed to contribute $3.2 million for paving the street. The city has already budgeted about $8 million for the improvements, Satterwhite said.
James Andrews, an engineer with HDR Claunch and Miller, said construction could be difficult because Baldwin Avenue has 20 intersections, the street is narrow, and many homes have landscaping and trees that his firm wants to save.
“It’s going to be a tough one,” he said. Andrews said his company plans to solidify more details of the engineering and design plans, and then solicit resident feedback about construction issues.
“It’s not a lot of fun, but at some point you just have to rip off the band aid and get this behind us,” said Councilman Andrew Friedberg.
Facebook Comments