By Vanesa Brashier, editor@bluebonnetnews.com
Flooding from Tropical Depression Imelda forced the closure of CR 604 in Dayton Thursday and the road will remain closed for at least two more weeks, according to Pct. 4 Commissioner Leon Wilson.
Rapidly-moving floodwater along the Old River Drainage District ditch caused a washout of the two culverts on CR 604 between CR 602 and US 90. Wilson said he plans to replace the two 8-foot culverts with two 10-foot ones in order to move the water through that area more quickly in the future.
“I am trying to work with the drainage district on the repairs. They are having a meeting next week. Hopefully, because this is their big ditch, they will help with the cost of the repairs,” Wilson said. “We’ve done this before on CR 611. They said it was my road and I said, ‘Yes, but that’s your ditch that washed out my road.'”
Wilson said the cost of the repairs is still being tallied, but the culverts alone will run between $12,000 to $16,000.
“Then we will have to get stabilizing sand, and that stuff isn’t cheap. It sets up almost like concrete and it won’t wash out like regular dirt. Then we will have to get them covered up, compacted and top them,” he said.
Road barricades were placed on the road yesterday, but Wilson said some motorists were trying to remove them, so Pct. 4 crews dropped loads of limestone in the roadway to prevent any more crossing attempts.
“They will have to go Dukes of Hazard-style if they try to cross it now,” the commissioner said. “We are going to get them repaired as quickly as we can but we want to repair them right. God willing, we won’t be making repairs here again anytime soon.”