Aaron, you are speaking my language. That red clay acts like a concrete slab once it gets compacted by heavy machinery. The water cannot penetrate the soil, so the runoff volume increases exponentially.

When that water gets pushed toward residential crawl spaces, the relative humidity under your house spikes. Once you cross that sixty percent threshold, you are just waiting for wood-destroying fungi to move in. I have seen three houses near the new Garner alignment this month already showing elevated joist moisture. Keep an eye on your foundation vents.

This is so different from what I am used to. Up in Massachusetts, we had very strict state drainage basins built before they even started laying the main highway lanes for the Mass Pike extensions. Does the state of North Carolina not require retention ponds during the active construction phase?

Also, as a newcomer, is the daily commute on 540 actually worth the tolls once it is finished? I am trying to figure out if I should plan my route to Brier Creek around it.

Tolls are stupid high if you use them every single day. That Ten Ten backup is brutal now though. It smells like hot asphalt and diesel fumes out there every morning at seven in the morning. I am tired of looking at orange barrels.

We had similar mud issues up in Rolesville when they cleared the land for the new subdivision behind my property. I had to build a raised timber trench just to keep the chicken run from turning into a swamp. Opal here, and my advice is to do what Aaron did and handle your own yard first. You cannot wait for the state or the developers to fix their mistakes!

The NCDOT website says the drainage basins are scheduled for completion by next spring.

Spring is too late, J. Pou. We have the peak hurricane season coming up in late summer and those clay embankments are going to melt like sugar.

Cara, to answer your question, the state does have plans for retention ponds, but they do not always maintain the temporary silt fences during active grading. I spent all of Saturday digging out my French drain outlets because they were packed with construction silt. If you want to protect your foundation, you have to be proactive.