City of Bryan receives grant for flood early warning system

Several roadways in Bryan will soon be safer for motorists during heavy rainfall, thanks to a grant the City of Bryan recently received from the state Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF).

The FIF was approved by Texas voters in 2019 and is administered by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), the Texas Department of Emergency Management and the Texas General Land Office.  The city received a $180,000 grant to help fund a $450,000 project to install a flood early warning system. This system will employ a suite of high flood water alert sensors for 20 flood-prone roadways in the community.

The flood early warning system will alert emergency response crews and city staff to coordinate preemptive roadway closures. They will also warn drivers to “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” with automated flashing beacons. Long term plans include sending out closure notifications by text/email subscriptions.

Although not all locations have been finalized, city staff have identified several highly traveled locations to receive the system, including Old Reliance Road at Carter’s Creek, Villa Maria Road at Burton Creek and Oak Ridge Drive at Barak Lane. Additional locations will be chosen based on input from emergency services personnel and the city’s Streets & Drainage and Geographical Information Services departments.

“We are celebrating that we received the grant from the state and that the state recognized how important a project such as this is for our community,” said Sam Vernon, Assistant City Engineer.

In addition to enhancing safety, the sensors will also collect rainfall data that will be used to help guide decisions made about stormwater-related capital improvement projects and assess how development impacts stormwater flow downstream.

Grant documents and contracts were approved by the Bryan City Council at their June 8 meeting. Construction of the sensors is planned to begin by fall of 2021 and continue through 2023.

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