MDOt temporarily closed the southbound lanes of the Southfield Freeway at Outer Drive Saturday night due to flooding overflow onto the roadway.
“We didn’t feel it was safe for drivers to be going through all of the flooding water," said MDOT spokesperson Diane Cross.
Cross also said the closure aimed to alleviate some of the road flooding in the bordering neighborhoods in Allen Park, Dearborn, and Dearborn Heights, as it would allow excess overflow onto the Freeway.
The SB lanes re-opened after about an hour.
Water continuing to flow onto the Southfield Freeway on ramp at Outer Drive, which is closed in both directions. Drivers starting to slow down. We haven’t seen anyone get stuck yet. Definitely try to avoid area if you can @wxyzdetroit @MDOT_MetroDet pic.twitter.com/Sz4e2rmVcF
— Jenn Schanz (@JennSchanzWXYZ) January 12, 2020
Nearby residents dealt with flooding from curb to curb in their neighborhood.
“It’s crazy. It’s January. It should be snow, not rain," said Jeanie Kendrick, who lives near the Dearborn Heights and Allen Park border on Annapolis.
Despite a flooded roadway, Sajad Alkasid drove out of his neighborhood
“I've gotta do what I've gotta do. We've gotta eat, get groceries and life goes on but at the same time this needs to be fixed," he said.
Cross said one reason for the overflow is that Ecorse Creek is cresting, so some of the water pumped out by MDOT equipment flows right back onto the Freeway.
She also said garbage clogging the drains causes excess overflow.
"The pump house can pump if off but if there's nowhere for the water to drain to, right now Ecorse Creek is full so we can't drain into that. But in other places it's just like your bathtub, if you get something that blocks that, there's nowhere for the water to go down," Cross said.
MDOT continues to monitor the situation.
