Flooding in the McCoys Creek area: Here’s when it could become a problem of the past

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When it rains in our area it means something different for everyone.

If you live or work near McCoys Creek, it means you’ll likely have to plan for the possibility of flooding.

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The City of Jacksonville is investing $105.4 million dollars in what is called the McCoys Creek Restoration Project.

It would help with something neighbors have wanted for a long time — reducing the risk of flooding altogether.

“Wow! Not again!” Nicole Newsome exclaimed. She lives near McCoys Creek.

Newsome said she’s experienced major flooding for about five years.

“I know how to maneuver around it,” Newsome explained.

She stopped to speak to Action News Jax last Thursday when the area received rain and a significant amount of flooding. Some drivers thought they could make it across the street.

“I have no clue why people keep driving their cars. The neighborhood, we come out to see who’s next because somebody’s going to do it,” Newsome said.

“That’s immediately 30 minutes off of my adjustments, getting up every morning. That’s the first thing I’m going to think about,” Leroy Harper, Jr. told Action News Jax Courtney Cole.

Harper told Cole he works in the area.

“This is my major route in terms of making it here on time on a daily basis.”

As explained by the City of Jacksonville on the webpage created about the project, the McCoys Creek you see now has not always been that way. It was forced into a straight line, affecting the way the water runs off, which leads to the flooding we see when it rains.

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“Can you give us a time span for when those McCoys Creek flooding will be no more?” Cole asked Councilman Garrett Dennis of District 9.

“I would say about 18 months from when a contract is under contract,” he replied. “The difference in this rain and rain 6 or 7 months ago, there was no work going on. Now there’s work going on.”

Councilman Dennis represents the district where McCoys Creek is located.

He also told Cole companies that are interested in widening and deepening the creek will be able to begin bidding next Wednesday, April 6.

The McCoys Creek Restoration Project is a sizable one, so it is separated into different sections. Councilman Dennis told Action News Jax the McCoys Creek Boulevard Removal, which is currently underway right now, is scheduled to be completed by July 2022.

McCoys Creek Boulevard is a low-lying stretch of road, where even a little bit of rain could lead to the creek overflowing and flooding the roads like it did last week, and many times before.

Harper, Jr. was surprised to learn how much was being spent on the restoration project.

“Wow, that’s a lot of money! And I’m not saying that it won’t be well spent. I just don’t see how it’s going to benefit the people in this geographic location that lives here every day,” Harper Jr. told Cole.

“What can be done to put that same kind of money [put into the project] into the community?” Cole asked Councilman Dennis.

“This project is much bigger than just going in and fixing up one house, paving one road. It’s about the whole community and the whole community is going to prosper,” Councilman Dennis replied.

Cole also asked Councilman Dennis about how this will impact the construction of The Emerald Trail.

He told Cole you can’t have The Emerald Trail without McCoys Creek. That’s why fixing the flooding issues is a priority.

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