The view from alongside Stringfellow Road in southeast Greene County shows a major washout that is threatening to claim the roadway. County officials will close the road in coming weeks to start a project to protect the road from flash flooding issues like this in the future.
Contributed Photo
From Staff Reports
Nearly a decade after torrential rains created a flood of fast-moving water that washed out a section of Stringfellow Road, county officials are being forced to close the roadway again, this time in hopes of preventing the same type of washout.
Dist. Four Supervisor Wayne Barrow told fellow board members on Monday that recent rains have created another major washout near the same spot where flash flooding from Hurricane Isaac took out a large section of the roadway in 2012. Barrow said he would close the road in coming weeks to address the drainage issue to prevent a repeat of the 2012 issue that closed the roadway for roughly a year.
Recent heavy rains caused a very similar washout to the one that occurred after Isaac, but Barrow said this time the road was spared. Another series of heavy rains would likely have a different outcome, prompting Barrow to have to take action now.
“Our engineers are working on putting together a plan that will provide the best solution to fix the problem longterm,” Barrow told the Herald on Tuesday. “It is going to be a major project.”
The cost of the project has yet to be determined, but one estimate from the Natural Resource Conservation Service was above $310,000. Barrow said he hopes to offset the costs with outside assistance to lessen the burden on the county’s coffers.
Once the road is closed to traffic, area residents should expect it to remain closed for an extended period of time as the project is completed. Just how long the closure will last will remain unclear until the project design is completed.
