Humble City Council approves engineering services for Black's Branch repairs

Storm events have flooded hundreds of homes in the Northshire neighborhood in recent years, and the city of Humble moved one step closer to addressing drainage issues at the April 8 City Council meeting.

Humble City Council unanimously approved a $150,000 contract with Bleyl Engineering to engineer the Black's Branch repair project at the April 8 City Council meeting.

The channel, located near the Deerbrook Mall, has been associated with flooding in the Northshire neighborhood in April 2016, Hurricane Harvey in August 2017 and Tropical Storm Imelda in September 2019. In a post-Harvey review, the Harris County Flood Control District deemed the ditch eroded, according to its interactive map.

In an email, Humble City Manager Jason Stuebe said there are 540 homes across Northshire's three subdivision sections—236 of which flooded during Harvey alone.

The $2.05 million project will consist of desilting the ditch bottom from Cantertrot Drive to the confluence of Black's Branch and addressing issues with the channel's slopes and retaining walls, city officials said. A specific timeline for the project was not available by press time, but Humble Public Works Director Mark Arnold said construction will begin this year.

The project is one of three the city is tackling this year as part of its 2020-21 fiscal year budget; both Jordan's Gully near FM 1960 Business and Dennis Street as well as drainage in Spears Village will be improved. The Black's Branch project is funded by a grant from the Texas General Land Office's Community Development Block Grant program from 2016.