The Clock Is Ticking: ALDOT Needs to Hold Public Meeting on Drainage Improvement Project in Shiloh Community

On January 5, 2025, the Alabama Department of Transportation sent letters to households in Elba’s historically Black Shiloh community informing them of an upcoming Drainage Improvement Project. This initiative is a direct response to persistent flooding that has plagued the community since the US-84 highway expansion. The project is a component of a 2024 ALDOT/FHWA Voluntary Resolution Agreement (VRA), which stems from a 2021 civil rights complaint filed by several Shiloh homeowners with the U.S. Department of Transportation. ALDOT states the project is designed to “slow stormwater runoff and improve overall drainage in the area.”  However, because ALDOT did not address the community’s flooding concerns for nearly eight years, Shiloh residents are requesting that ALDOT hold an in-person public information meeting about the Drainage Improvement Project before construction begins, which is expected to start in the Spring of 2026. 

Before this project, Shiloh was a flat, rural farm community. The expansion involved increasing the roadway from two lanes to four, raising it more than ten feet, and directing new drains downhill toward residential areas. This resulted in the community being placed in a "bowl," drastically altering both the landscape and the natural drainage patterns. Now, after heavy rainfall, Shiloh frequently experiences severe flooding, with the area transforming into a lake. Shiloh homeowners recall a time when flooding was not an issue in their community. The current flooding problem was caused by the Alabama DOT’s US-84 highway expansion project, which began construction in 2017.

Shiloh residents have endured significant damage to homes, property, and businesses due to the ongoing flooding. As a result, the community’s trust in ALDOT is extremely low. Residents are seeking clarity on whether the Drainage Improvement Project will truly resolve the flooding, not merely "slow stormwater runoff" as stated by ALDOT. Nowhere in the announcement is the word flooding mentioned. Residents want to know if the flood risk will be restored to pre-2017 levels, when flooding was not an issue, or if the project will simply offer another temporary fix for the problem created by the highway expansion.

Currently, there is nothing on ALDOT’s website indicating that the Drainage Improvement Project will eliminate flooding in the Shiloh community. The expectations set by ALDOT focus only on slowing runoff and improving drainage, which leaves residents concerned that they may still face flooding. They worry that these "low bar" expectations might technically satisfy the VRA requirements without resolving the actual flooding problem. Shiloh homeowners fear this approach could allow ALDOT to avoid full accountability, leaving both current and future generations to deal with unjust flooding long after the project is completed.

Section XII of the VRA states that once ALDOT completes its Voluntary Action Plan and receives approval from the FHWA Division Office, the investigation will be closed and the complaints considered resolved. Residents argue that it would be deeply unjust and immoral if FHWA approved a project that does not truly remedy the flooding, effectively allowing the community to continue suffering the consequences of highway robbery and seeing their history and inheritance washed away.

Shiloh residents are still seeking answers to their questions and concerns. To date, ALDOT has not scheduled any public meeting to discuss the Drainage Improvement Project in Shiloh. 

Community members are urging others to support their call for justice by adding their names to a letter requesting ALDOT to hold an in-person public meeting. Those wishing to help can sign the letter by completing a provided form: https://ow.ly/VtuE50XZMcg