Sycamore Street underpass reopens after drainage issues

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - An underpass in downtown Grand Island is back open after a temporary closure overnight.

The Grand Island Street Department learned Sunday afternoon that the Sycamore Street underpass was holding water.

With crews busy dealing with the recent snow, they closed it to see if the water would slowly drain, but as of Monday morning, it was still not draining.

The underpass was renovated a few years ago, which was supposed to resolve flooding issues that they had previously dealt with.

Street Superintendent Shannon Callahan said those renovations have helped and believe that the reason for the standing water is something else.

“The pumps are running well. The pits are available for the water to drain into it. So there has to be a blockage somewhere between the drains and the pits,” Callahan said.

She said her team troubleshooted in the afternoon to figure out the issue and discovered a pipe was clogged with trash and debris.

They were able to get it resolved and open up the underpass.

“Knowing that it’s important to the public, we are going to work quickly and try to resolve it as fast as we can,” Callahan said.

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