DENVER — A Denver underpass known for street flooding in heavy rains turned into a lake again during a downpour Saturday night – but a new warning system did what it was supposed to and no one was injured.
The problems along West 38th Avenue between Jason and Fox Streets – where the road dips below railroad tracks – are well known because of its aging and small storm drain system.
The drain pipe in that area is 20 inches across – much smaller than is needed, said Nancy Kuhn, a spokeswoman for the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.
Replacing that pipe with a system that could handle heavy storms has been known for years and has been part of the city’s Storm Drainage Master Plan since 2019 – but so far, there’s been no money set aside to pay for it.
The price tag for the project was set at $26 million to $32 million in 2019. Kuhn said it would likely cost two to three times that amount today.
As of now, no money has been set aside for the project.
In the absence of that, the city recently installed signs and a monitor that activates an alarm in the underpass reaches 10 inches. That happened about 9 p.m. Saturday and several cars and an RTD bus got stranded in the water, and a city crew responded.
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When that crew arrived, Denver police officers and city firefighters were on scene, assisting people.
During that hour, Denver firefighters carried out between 15 and 20 water rescues, almost all of them were people stuck in their cars.
Saturday’s storm was the first time the new system, which includes signs and flashing lights in addition to the alarm.
It was also the first time Sydney Field ever saw anything like what she, her mother, her son and her sister encountered as they drove on West 38th Avenue.
“It was coming down so hard that we could not see a thing,” she said of the rain pounding the city.
Her mother, who was driving, stopped, as the rain cleared a little, she saw vehicles – including the bus – stuck in several feet of water.
“It was definitely scary,” she said. “They probably thought that it wasn't that deep and then maybe just the traction got lost in there and they just weren't able to get out from there.”