McAllen has started a $5.6 million drainage project designed to reduce flooding by expanding a major drainage channel near North Main Street and Auburn Avenue.

The work will double the size of the channel to 160 feet, allowing more water to flow through the area. Crews are bringing in heavy machinery to widen the drainage ditch near Morris-Perez Park.

"The water does pile up through the canals, it might take a couple of days. Sometimes they might be a little slow," McAllen resident Leonel Flores said.

Flores has lived near the corner of Auburn Avenue for the past eight years. During that time, he's seen heavy rain fill the drainage ditch near his home.

The floods from March 2025 are still fresh in his mind.

"A couple of inches, that was pretty bad. It was a lot, [and it came] fast," Flores said. "That's the bad thing."

Flores is also a real estate broker who owns properties nearby. Flooding concerns often come up when showing homes to clients.

"When people are going to ask about that, the first thing they want to know, does it flood?" Flores said.

McAllen is taking action to reduce flooding in the neighborhood. The project comes after major storms hit the area in June 2018 and March 2025.

"Everybody remembers June 2018 and then we had another event between then and last year on March 27," McAllen Project Engineer Roberto Garza said. "Those extraordinary storms help kind of promote these improvements."

The work will start near Main Street and Auburn and extend east. It ends just north of 2nd and Wisconsin.

Crews will expand the channel to increase storage capacity for that section. The project will ultimately impact all the surrounding areas for flood mitigation.

The project will include new storm drainage pipes and a replacement bridge at North 2nd Street. A new hike and bike trail will also be added for residents in the area.

"They could traverse [it] without having to worry about the intersections because it's going to be a below crossing," Garza said. "So they could have the connectivity."

The project is paid for by taxpayers through a drainage project fee the city added to bills several years ago. Flores says these improvements will benefit both his neighborhood and his work.

Officials say there are currently no road closures, but that could change as construction continues. The project is expected to be complete by May 2027.

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