People saw cars stuck on IH635 and Garland Road in Dallas on Monday morning after rain made the roads flood.
Late Sunday night and early Monday morning, rain hit North Texas and left cars stuck on the highway.
Some cars wouldn’t move in the high water and cars that could drive through it.
Over the years, the highway has been known to flood.
In May and June, Dallas Fire-Rescue got calls from people stuck in their cars on IH635 because of high water.
In those cases, a TxDOT official said that trash blocking the drains made the floods worse.
Pegasus Link Constructors, the company that is building the 635 East Project, said in a statement, “PLC remains responsible for preventing roadway flooding that impacts traffic throughout the construction phase.”
PLC then said, “Unfortunately, the heavy rains this morning did cause some parts of westbound 635 to flood.” When our team got there, they started right away to clear drainage areas and pump out water to make the roads clear. By 9:30 AM, all lanes were clear.
PLC said that it would do regular maintenance and checks of the drainage system going forward, and that it would do extra inspections when rain was expected.
A construction company explains the problems that are probably causing I-635 to flood.
By 6 a.m., the westbound lanes of 635 at Garland Road were full of water.
People tried to cross safely by merging into one lane.
Mya McGown posted a video on Instagram of cars stuck in traffic going eastbound and warned her followers, “Do NOT get on 635.”
The 635 East Project, which runs 11 miles from U.S. 75 to I-30, is being done by Pegasus Link Contractors.
As part of the project, the straight connectors between I-635 and I-30 will also be rebuilt.
“Pegasus is responsible for keeping roads from flooding and minimizing the effects on traffic during the construction phase,” said Dianne Tordillo, a spokesperson for the company. “Because it rained so hard this morning, we went in right away and started to clear the drainage areas and pump up the water clear lanes. By 9:30 a.m., all lanes were clear.”
In 2020, the huge project started by adding a lane in each direction and rebuilding the middle lanes so that they could be used for future TexPress lanes.
The building process should be finished in 2025.
When asked what caused the rapid flooding that hit some cars Monday morning, Tordillo said that the area in question is a construction zone where the concrete barriers are moving around to make room for new lanes.
She said that the flooding was partly caused by building and road debris getting stuck in drains.
To get through the floodwaters, Pegasus workers used portable electric pumps and other tools.
In the past few months, similar things have happened on other parts of the East Project, which makes some travelers angry because they say that even small storms cause flooding.
Crews are still looking for places where water tends to gather and are taking more action.
“We are going to make the regular drainage inspections happen more often and stay as proactive as possible in finding those trouble spots,” Tordillo said. The people on our team are still dedicated to finishing the 635 East Project successfully.
Tordillo says that drivers who will be affected by the project may be able to get some financial help.
She said, “We have a claims process in place.”
