Often during heavy storms, sections of North Miller Street in Santa Maria fill up with rainwater leaving the roadway flooded.
In the coming months, city crews will work to relieve the issue.
“It’s like you’re driving through Lopez Lake or something!” Santa Maria resident Nathanial Thomas said, recalling driving down Miller Street during previous storms.
Thomas says he has lived in Santa Maria for about 20 years and that when it rains, he expects flooding issues on North Miller.
“It kind of hinders the flow of traffic,” he said. “You have got to slow down. Your car gets all dirty. It is mainly a hassle.”
However, Santa Maria Public Works Director Brett Fulgoni says this fall, a drain line will be installed near the intersection of Miller and El Camino to prevent accumulation of rainwater on the road.
Jaret Pinon, who lives in Guadalupe but goes to school in Santa Maria, feels the efforts are long past due.
“It’s about time,” he told KSBY. “In these last few years, we have had a lot more rain and those same problems on the streets.”
This past weekend, President Joe Biden approved almost $14 million in federal funding for various projects on the Central Coast, which Rep. Salud Carbajal advocated for over the past fiscal year.
Some of those funds include more than $950,000 for the repairs on North Miller.
City leaders add that once the project is completed, any leftover funds will be used to fix other drainage issues around town.
“I think they are doing what they can,” said Rich Rogers of Santa Maria. “They have a budget they have to go by, and that is what they do.”
Rogers says he avoids driving in the rain because of roadway flooding but is glad to hear the city will be taking action.
“The water has got to go somewhere. It just backs up and saturates the ground,” he said. “If it has nowhere to go, it is just going to cause destruction.”
Public Works officials tell KSBY that additional city drainage repairs will be taking place in the near future to help resolve flooding issues on Jones Street, Boone Street and College Drive.
Fulgoni says once the new drain line is installed, repavement efforts will begin along North Miller Street which should continue into next year.
