ATHENS, Ala. (WHNT) — The Vine Street community is finally seeing some improvements to drainage after flooding issues have plagued the neighborhood.
Residents in the Athens neighborhood were hopeful that anyone from the city would answer their plea to fix flooding issues that have plagued the community for decades.
Jerry Yarborough, who has lived on Vine Street for two decades, told News 19 that the rains have nearly destroyed his home because the flood water has nowhere to go.
“The water cannot go anywhere,” Yarborough said. “It runs up in our yard and washes everything away. Look at all the driveways in this block. The water has washed everything away.”
After a series of rains, several residents have reached out to News 19 with complaints that nothing has ever been done to fix the blockages in the drainage system, until now.
After several complaints, trucks are seen in the area to finally fix the drainage and other infrastructure issues that have plagued the community for quite some time.
Brandon Lamp, Athens City Civic Engineer says the construction started on Sept. 1.
“We are completely revamping the drainage situation on Browns Ferry Road right outside of the Vine Street intersection and we are going to redo some of their sewer laterals, Lamp explained. “Vine Street is getting a complete and total makeover and some drainage and sidewalk work around it.”
After his State of the City address in January, Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks says Vine Street and the surrounding streets are long overdue for the city and the county to make the repairs.
“Vine Street is a project that we’ve looked at for several years. It’s a lot of drainage problems in that area of town and it’s located near the old Trinity school in that area which is a little bit more of a low-income area that needs some attention,” Marks said.
A neighbor who says that his family has owned a home on Vine Street for over 70 years says that he’s both shocked and pleased that the city is finally doing something to ‘get his home out of the water.’
Engineers estimate that the work will be completed in four to six months.
