NDOT and RTC are partnering to propose a project at multiple pop-up booths throughout the month.
They're reaching out to the community to get input on the possibility of realigning Lemmon Drive on top of the natural berm that sits along Swan Lake and also extends into Chickadee Drive and Deodar Way into the neighborhoods up there.
However, lots of residents in the area are very concerned with this idea.
"There are a lot of older people that live in our area," said Shirley Wright, a resident. "That's why they moved out there because it was quiet and didn't have a three or four lane highway going through it."
"All the traffic that's going into the neighborhood behind me and above me is going to go to Arizona and turn on Fir. I live on Fir. That means everybody in that neighborhood is going to drive by my house that lives to the north," added resident Gabrielle Stephens-Chase
In 2017 Lemmon Drive was completely flooded causing emergency closures and an extensive mitigation response.
"It covered the roadway and people had to take a different route on a dirt road to get to their homes," said Paul Nelson, RTC Government Affairs Officer.
RTC says realigning Lemmon Drive on a natural berm near the lake would elevate the road above their one-hundred-year flood plan.
The shift would begin at the intersection of Deodar Way and Lemmon Drive and continue to the intersection of Pompe Way and Lemmon.
However, residents are also worried that adding this road could raise water levels in Swan Lake and cause it to flood again.
"It will cause issues number one with the environment and number two it won't hold. The playa will suck it in,"Â Wright says.
"The roadway itself will not affect flooding, it's not going to increase flooding, it's not going to decrease flooding. What it will do is it's going to raise the roadway above that flood plane to keep the evacuations in place and it'll allow emergency responders to get into the neighborhoods," Nelson explains.
Nelson wants to remind everyone that this is just a proposed project, and nothing is set in stone yet,
"I know that the community has their concerns and we're going through that," he said. "That's why we're having these meetings. We want to learn what those concerns are. What we have the designs we have in place and we're hoping that that will mitigate it and make a better roadway in the future."
You can find RTC and NDOT's next pop-up booth on June 7th outside of Ace Hardware from 10am to 1pm.
