Temple — The City of Temple is closing Old Waco road south of West Adams Avenue from September 17th to October 1, 2018. Traffic from several hundred homes will be detoured down Tarver Road to South Pea Ridge Road for access to West Adams. The drive will add at least four minutes to a drivers commute.
Locals... are ok with it.
"I'm glad that they are doing it." Homeowner Kay Atwood said. "It won't be very convenient but they do need to pay attention to the drainage."
The city is closing the road to replace box culverts at the Thompson Channel, south of Conner Park and north of Brandon Drive. It will also improve drainage channels in the area. Atwood had her house flood in 1998 and again in 1999. The existing drainage has since helped, but water still gets uncomfortably close after several days of rain.
"The city has even brought us sandbags before to put around the back porch of our house," Atwood said.
Neighbor Elizabeth Gilliam told Channel 6 she hopes the changes also improve the road itself.
"I'd rather the road be fixed than us have to deal with roads that are slanted or bumpy or too close to the ditch," Gilliam said. "I'm surprised we haven't seen more people in a ditch."
Atwood told Channel 6 the neighborhood is now at a higher risk than ever for flooding with more subdivisions being built in the area and less places for water to escape. Locals don't know if the two week schedule will stay on track, but they are happy to put up with the detours during that period.
"If they get it down and get it done correctly." Atwood said.