Keeping water from flooding Fleur Drive isn’t as simple as raising up the road, according to City of Des Moines Public Works.
In short, elevating Fleur would crate congestion near the bridge at Martin Luther King Jr. Pkwy and end up flooding more areas.
“It’s not obvious that Fleur Drive is in the flood plane,“ said City of Des Moines Public Works Director Jonathan Gano. “It is what it is. We’re here and we’ll be here and it’ll be okay.“
A bridge could be built that covers the area, but a price tag would be in the $50 to $60 million range.