DAVENPORT, Iowa — We're finally seeing the end of yet another round of flooding as crews are now cleaning roads on River Drive. The Davenport Fire Department is among many entities helping with the effort.
That includes cleaning mud and debris off roads before it get swept into the Mississippi River.
Davenport Public Works Director Nicole Gleason said workers have had to work longer the last few weeks.
"So we had been on extra shifts while all the flood equipment was up," Gleason said. "We did work a longer day Monday and Tuesday, but today we should be back down to a normal day."
Davenport Fire Lieutenant Kelly Johnson was one of the people washing the streets. He said compared to past floods he's seen, this one was much easier.
"Oh, this one is relatively minor," Johnson said. "The last flood we had, it was like 45 days, and there was a lot of mud, over a foot deep in some spots."
Gleason said Davenport Public Works is planning to improve flood precautions in the future with infrastructure changes.
"It will help also extend some of the time roads can be open and prevent road closures from being put up as quickly, so I'll say its gonna be a continual evolution," Gleason said. "We've been working really hard to get the funding to make those more long-term improvements."
And those improvements also include allowing more parking when floods hit again.
"It creates a lot more issues for like parking and access and things like that," Gleason said. "With so many people downtown, its nice to have that extra capacity."
This capacity will be filled for the 50th annual Bix 7 race on Saturday, July 27.
"Any events people are historically used to with the Bix should be carried on as usual," said Gleason.
The Bix 7 race will begin Saturday morning at 8 a.m. in downtown Davenport.