City Manager: Flooding on US 31 the problem of private owners, other entities
In the summer of 2017, Vestavia Hills dealt with massive flooding, much of it along U.S. 31 in “old Vestavia,” along with other areas of the city.
While flooding continues to be a concern in the city, City Manager Jeff Downes said the city is taking care of what it can. The most affected areas along U.S. 31 fall to the control of ALDOT, Jefferson County and private businesses.
PRIVATE PROPERTY
The city cannot repair or replace private pipes, Downes said, and can only work on public property.
U.S. 31 is an ALDOT-controlled road, and Columbiana Road, which runs into 31 near where it meets Interstate 65, is controlled by the county, Downes said, meaning the city can’t make any improvements to stormwater infrastructure in the area. While businesses in that part of town are heavily impacted by massive rainfall, private property owners are responsible for their businesses.
“That’s the result of people building in floodplains and floodways,” Downes said.
While both ALDOT and Jefferson County have made some improvements to their respective drainage systems in the past few years, it’s difficult to manage rainfall when businesses are built in the path of any potential flood, Downes said.
If a business applied for a building permit today, it wouldn’t be allowed to build in the floodway, Downes said. However, since many of the businesses in that area are older, those safeguards weren’t in effect when they were built. Businesses that build in the floodplain must build their property at least 12 inches above the base flood elevation, which is the measure of how high water is expected to rise during a flood event.
Downes said having a large swath of the city in the floodway and floodplain does affect new businesses coming in, but stores like Verizon have worked around it, with the company building well above the base flood elevation to avoid problems.
PUBLIC PROJECTS
The city has had issues with its own drainage system, with corrugated metal pipes installed 70 or 80 years ago rusting and bottoming out, causing roads to fail.
In 2017, the city identified 27 drainage pipes that needed to be replaced in order to avoid roads collapsing. As of mid-June 2019, 18 of those 27 projects were either completed or in design, Downes said. Those projects include pipe replacements at White Oak Drive, Noel Drive, Green Valley Road, Millbrook Road, Overton Road and portions of the road between River Run Road and Liberty Parkway, as well as a project at Granada Drive and Southwood Road.
The work includes going into the drainage system and either repairing or replacing the pipes, which help ensure that water leaves the roadway as quickly as possible, Downes said. When the pipes rust and bottom out, it could lead to dips in the asphalt or complete road failure, Downes said.
The city has, as of mid-June, allocated a little more than $1 million for those projects, Downes said, with the money coming from both the capital reserve fund as well as funds from the Community Spaces and Infrastructure plan.
Work on the other projects is ongoing.