HENDERSON — Flooding at the roundabout in Henderson, just off of exit 115, continues to get worse and it's not only affecting the people who live there, but businesses in the area.
Employees at the Louisiana Marketshops say that their business takes a major hit when the underpass floods after heavy rainfall.
"People can't get to our location," says an employee at the local art shop. "Even the ones that can get to us in higher trucks, don't want to take the chance when the water starts to drain, so it makes a huge impact on our business here."
The roundabout opened in 2019 and ever since the road underneath I-10 overpass gets about two feet of water whenever the area receives heavy rain. Employees at the businesses surrounding the interstate say that they constantly see cars being pulled out of the water.
"A lot of cars think that they cna still go through it, because they don't really realize how deep it actually is," says the employee at Louisiana Marketshops. "Then they get into an area where the water gets really deep because the road sinks down quite a bit."
According to DOTD, when the roundabout was built, the road under the overpass was lowered to meet new guidelines and regulations. Deidra Druilhet, the public information officer for DOTD, says that they expected some flooding in the area, and put in additional drainage, but they did not anticipate for it to be this much of an issue.
"Because of us lowering the road, we did run into some drainage issues," she says. "But we already have a project to help address those issues, we just needed to get the main projects done which were widening the interstate and putting the roundabout in place, and now we are planning to come in behind all of that to do some more work on drainage."
DOTD says that the construction for the drainage is not expected to begin until next year, but in the meantime there are temporary measures in place such as additional pumps and workers guiding traffic.
------------------------------------------------------------
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers
