Drainage Construction Upsetting Lubbock Residents

"Give us a fair warning," Mendoza said.  "Let us know about the construction.  They just showed up one day and all the construction workers were there."

Cameron Mendoza is talking about construction workers near his home on the corner of Indiana and Grinnell.

"It's kind of a big deal because they are out there throughout the whole day," Mendoza said. "The morning all the way through the night and we don't ever get any sleep at all, so it's kind of been a real big deal."

The workers are digging up streets and running pipes as part of the Lubbock drainage project-which will help drain water out of the area and take the neighborhoods out of the flood zone.

"We thought they'd be done pretty soon," Mendoza said. "But it's been going on a couple of weeks now."

Michael Keenum, the Storm Water Engineer for the City of Lubbock, said he realizes the construction is annoying but the residents of these neighborhoods will directly benefit from the project.

"We've done this in the past and we recognize that the inconvenience is there," Keenum said. "But ultimately it will be a huge benefit to the community."

That benefit is from the water being taken away from the neighborhood and sent down the new pipes.

"The neighborhoods being effected will benefit directly from the lakes being drawn out quicker," Keenum said.

Mendoza hopes that as long as the work continues the city will work with the residents to make the project less of a hassle for everyone.

"Let us know that they were going to do construction on a certain date," Mendoza said. "We would have made arrangements for how we could park our cars and what routes to take. Just let us know why they are even doing the construction."