“I’ve dealt with this for 39 years.” Lexington man frustrated about flooding on street

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW) — One man is frustrated with flooding on his street every time it rains. City officials say they do have a plan to fix the issue, though it will take some time.

Tracy Whited has lived on Bermuda Ave. for almost four decades. He says he’s been dealing with flooding on the road since he moved in.

“His whole driveway, his whole yard is covered,” said Whited, when talking about how much water there is on the road. “The first house where that blue car is.”

Whited says he spoke with multiple people from the city, including his district’s council member, about the problem.

“There’s flooding where that no outlet sign is,” said Whited. “It’s getting worse. I’ve contacted the city, they’re saying they’re going to fix it by 2029.”

But he says he wants the problem fixed sooner than the 2029 target date, because he has a hard time getting anywhere when the road floods.

Andrew Grunwald, an engineer for the city, says they do have a plan in place. But they first have to start on Rosemary Ave., the next street over, before working on Bermuda.

“The attempt is to remove the water from overland flow and put it into storm sewer pipes,” said Grunwald.

He says once they finish there, and contractors have been able to move sewer and gas lines, as well as power lines on Bermuda Ave., then the city can start on its work.

“Then we’ll come back and we’ll totally rip out the street,” said Grunwald. “We’ll put back new curb and gutter. We’ll put back new storm drains and we’ll redo the sanitary sewer line.”

Grunwald says the hope is for the work to be finished within the next three years.

“Hopefully they’ll fix the issue before four years from now,” said Whited. “I can’t wait. It’s getting worse. I’ve dealt with this for 39 years.”