Wednesday was the second day the intersection FM 2641 and Milwaukee was closed due to flooding. Neighbors said this happens often but nearby construction on Highway 84 is adding more traffic through this tiny intersection, which causes more cars to be stalled in the flood waters.
“There’s no telling how long they’ll be stuck before someone can assist them and they’re probably out of a vehicle after that as well,” said Emma Duty, who lives nearby the intersection.
Duty said she saw several stalled vehicles out on the road on Tuesday. Duty is concerned with the drivers who don’t know about the flooded intersection.
“She just got her car paid for and came though it and blew her motor out,” said Lova Keele-Diggs, another neighbor, recounting a flooded car from Tuesday. “It was wet, it was bad. She was without a car and no money to buy a new one.”
Highway 84’s partially closed section was rerouting vehicles through this intersection originally. Tx DOT changed the detour to prevent cars from having to drive through the flooded area.
“It’s hard on the people who live out here because we get rerouted all the time because they close the roads down, you can’t go through there because it’s flooded,” said Keele-Diggs.
Another problem with the intersection is the increased amount of traffic.
“It was like a turnpike through here, that’s how much traffic we had. All going through all of this water, never knowing if they were going to make it through or not,” said Keele-Diggs.
Neighbors also said the flooded water impacts their homes and driveways. They hope the City of Lubbock will take a look at this area of town and implement measures to stop flooding.
Flooding in the area is dangerous and Lubbock County traffic control managers said they see cars drive through closed roads all the time.
“It’s extremely dangerous, they don’t know what’s behind those barricades,” said Michael Lee. “It could be a two-foot drop off. It could be anything. Instead people decide that it’s a big inconvenience and it’s against the law.”
For more information on how weather impacts road conditions, you can check for delays and closures on drivetexas.com.
