MCALLEN – Some McAllen residents are concerned with construction on a sewer project around their homes. They said it’s making a mess and taking longer than they had originally anticipated.

People living along Violet Avenue said the road adds convenience to their commute. It’s a back road that connects main streets like 10th St. and McColl Road.

“I can’t even go from here to my friend’s house, which he lives literally a block from here. I can’t even get there. I have to go all the way around,” said resident Leinad Salinas.

The road is currently undergoing construction. The $1.8 million project will connect sewer from 2nd to K Center streets.

Salinas said the site is causing a major inconvenience and a big mess.

“When it rains, it’s all over the bottom of your cars. It’s all over your paint job,” he said.

Salinas said the car is less than a year old and it already has scratches and chips from driving through the rocky mess every day.  He said they’ve been dealing with this for months.

“It was posted on April, identifying it would start construction June 1st,” he said. “Maybe like two days later, the sign changed, identifying it would take another 30 days. And two days later, it got removed. They blocked the whole section.”

McAllen Public Utilities General Manager Mark Vega told CHANNEL 5 NEWS the signs were for traffic control.

“When traffic control signs will say this area closed, it’s usually section specific and not project-wide,” he said.

He explained they tried to communicate what the neighborhood could expect throughout the length of the project.

“Prior to any project, we do – especially a project like this – is we have what’s called a town hall meeting,” he said.

He said people living in the neighborhood with concerns over damages should reach out to the city.

He said per policy, they’ll be doing a full walkthrough to inspect the contractor’s work and want to know what’s going on.

“We’ll walk from 2nd Street to McColl, to K Center Street. Any debris that’s left behind, any of those issues have to be corrected before they get paid,” he said.

Vega said the city should be wrapped up in about two weeks. He said that’s two months ahead of the contractor’s schedule.