Two people died in 2016. Another in 2018. Never mind the damage to properties and businesses.

When intense storms dumped more than 6 inches of rain in Ellicott City in July 2016 and again in May 2018, walls of water cascaded through the steep-sided valley into the old mill town, overwhelming aged stormwater systems, flooding stores and restaurants and killing people.

Today, Old Ellicott City’s streets are outfitted with a warning system connected to the National Weather Service to blare warnings of potential flash floods and with neon yellow signs pointing toward “HIGH GROUND.”

Mitigating such floods in Ellicott City is a major priority for Howard County Executive Calvin Ball’s administration.

He spent his early days in office years back launching “Ellicott City Safe and Sound,” a plan to divert dangerous flooding away from the centuries-old mill town situated along the Tiber River, a typically tranquil branch of the Patapsco River that quickly becomes overwhelmed in heavy rains due to runoff from upstream development.

The “ambitious” plan, then priced at $140 million, includes multiple major infrastructure projects such as the construction of ponds, culverts and a massive tunnel said to be the county’s single largest ever public works project.

The goal was to finish by mid-2025.

Several years in, county leaders now say “Safe and Sound” is costing more than expected and behind schedule thanks to an expanded project scope, the COVID-19 pandemic and a “dramatic cost escalation” for construction materials and labor.

“This is the reality we’re now in,” said Brian Shepter, deputy chief of staff for the Ball administration. “We’re not able to move these numbers.”

The infrastructure improvements needed to protect Old Ellicott City are complex, Shepter said. Consultants warned county officials around 2021 that they would need to double the distance of the tunnel in order to mitigate flooding on a lower section of Main Street.

The 1,600-foot North Tunnel estimated to cost $77 million was reimagined as a milelong tunnel expected to cost $141 million alone. The 18-foot diameter tunnel now starts on Papillon Drive, just east of where Frederick Road passes under Route 29, and runs east around 130 feet underground until it dumps into the Patapsco River. Rainwater drains into the tunnel at low spots at Rogers Avenue and Lot F behind Main Street.

Construction on the tunnel began last year and is expected to continue until 2027, with daily blasting deep underground starting soon to clear rock.

The county also spent $13 million to build three stormwater retention ponds, pushing the tab for “Safe and Sound” to $154 million.

That figure now exceeds the cost of the county’s second biggest public project, the new Howard County Circuit Courthouse, which was completed in 2021 and cost roughly $150 million. And it does not include the design and construction costs for two more stormwater retention ponds and planned culverts along Maryland Avenue that the county has not yet begun.

Officials don’t have a new total cost estimate for the project, but say they’re committed to seeing the plan through, while acknowledging that state and federal funding sources are drying up. Maryland lawmakers are grappling a $3 billion shortfall this budget cycle and President Donald Trump’s administration is making good on promises to cut federal spending and staff.

Funding for Ellicott City’s flood mitigation has come from a mix of local, state and federal sources.

The county received a $75 million low-interest loan from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2022 under the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.

The state also gave Howard County an $18.1 million low-interest loan from the Water Quality State Revolving Loan Fund and a $20 million low-interest loan from the Resilient Maryland Revolving Loan Fund. The latter will contribute $5 million each to the tunnel project, culverts on Maryland Avenue and two stormwater retention ponds.

Howard officials have applied for a $2.6 million U.S. Department of Transportation BUILD grant for bicycle and pedestrian-related infrastructure planning around lower Main Street as well a $1 million Congressionally Directed Spending grant for the tunnel project. Both requests are pending.

“We’re cognizant of the investment that is being made here,” Shepter said. “We’re taking every effort we can to control costs and we’ll continue to progress these projects as we’re able to secure funding for them.”