City Considers $3M Overhaul to Stop Downtown Flooding

It would take $3 million and significant construction to finally fix Old Town Fairfax's flooding problem.

RK&K introduced their two-step plan for renovating the downtown's run-down drainage system at a meeting in late October. They asked council members to consider a $420,000 immediate fix that would help with some of the flooding issues. The flooding won't stop, however, until the entire storm drain network is replaced.

The quick-fix approach would get rid of flooding caused by nuisance and more major storms, like those that . The system overhaul would address the 10-year and 20-year storms.

"But that is major construction project," said RK&K representative Bill Springer. "We'd have to be tearing up University, we'd have to be tearing up sidewalks, and there would be significant utility relocation."

When it rains, almost half of the surface runoff in central downtown Fairfax collects near the restaurant on Main Street. Downtown employees have tried stacking sand bags along the curb to keep the flood water from soaking their businesses, to no avail.

"The storm drain system is old and inadequate, parts of it are failing, and the capacity of the pipe system is not suited to meet the runoff of the typical rainstorms you have in the summertime and even throughout the year," said Springer. 

Rainwater doesn't even make it into the drainage system. Instead it flows to Main Street and collects in front of Subway. The first step of the two-part plan would adjust surface drains to get that water into the system. This construction would start in the fall.

The second step would completely replace the failing drain pipe network. Right now Old Town is serviced by a system clogged by debris and collapsing pipe sections, said Springer.

As a public redevelopment project in downtown Fairfax, the drain system overhaul could be partly paid for by the $2.4 million left over from a bond issued for the construction of the new . Council members discussed using that funding to redevelop George Mason Square and expand Kitty Pozer Garden at a September public hearing.

The library funds aren't enough to cover the full drain system cost, much less both redevelopment projects.

Council members will discuss how to use the library funds at this Tuesday night's work session meeting at City Hall. Meeting starts at 7 p.m. Click here to watch it live online.