Suit over LBJ Express work moves forward

A massive redo of the LBJ Expressway through North Dallas and Farmers Branch will open to drivers one week from Thursday.

But as the construction wraps up, more than 100 homeowners feel like the contractor has left them in the dirt with crumbling homes.

The homeowners say their homes started getting major cracks at the same time contractors began drilling into the earth to build the expressway, which is practically in their backyards.

Valencia Powell, the daughter of one of those homeowners, says there were never any problems with her mother’s home until the massive $3.2 billion construction project started shaking the house.

“When you go in, you're going to be shocked,” said Powell. “I get really emotional about it because my mother's ceiling is practically falling down."

She believes drilling into the earth has destroyed her 84-year-old mother’s home.

“Honestly, I am afraid that if this ceiling falls down, what’s gonna happen?” she said.

Experts have told Powell that the whole house needs to be condemned.

“I can't afford to get this fixed," she said.

Powell is one of 127 homeowners now suing the contractor after not getting any offers of help.

Months ago, the contractor sent engineers out to the assess homes.

“Then they said, ‘We're going to take care of you guys, but please, no more media,’” said Valencia.

Johnny Travis lives a half-mile from the freeway but showed FOX 4 the huge cracks he believes are a result of the construction.

“There was a boom,” he said. “I thought it was a sonic boom at first. The whole house shook.”

It’s not hard to see serious issues in the neighborhood.

A nearby elementary school's sign is tilted, and another home eerily has a leaning light post and falling columns.

The contractor's attorney has said in court documents that it is not liable for any damages that are the result of an unavoidable accident or act of God.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for the project would only say they can't comment on pending litigation.