MASONTOWN — Residents of Burke Road will have no relief until this fall, said Jennifer J. Dooley, West Virginia Department of Transportation public relations director.
Dooley said she spoke with Mike Cronin, District 4 engineer, and he said the road was reclaimed in 2020.
“The plan for this one is to keep it as a gravel road,” she said. “It was shaped this past spring and will be shaped and rolled again later this fall.”
Residents and businesses along the road are not happy with the situation.
“It sill defeats the huge ruts in the road at the end of my yard just before the doctors office,” James Daft, who lives on the road, said. “It’s going to take an accident to get the state’s attention.
He said Burke Road used to be completely paved but is now mainly dirt.
Daft said water from Deckers Creek rises during heavy rains and washes across the road, adding more potholes and ruts.
He said he talked with members of the Division of Natural Resources, who told him the culverts aren’t large enough to handle the overflow of water from the creek. The DNR’s wildlife resources section conserves, protects and manages the state’s fish and wildlife resources, which includes rivers and creeks.
“The road is prohibitive,” said Dr. Vicky Mays, during an earlier interview. “We’ve had to cancel appointments because our patients can’t get to the clinic. If the water is covering the road they can’t safely cross it because of the deep ruts.”
Mays, of Country Doctors Family Medicine, which is on Burke Road, said she believes part of the problem is water drainage from two reservoirs. She said the drainage causes flooding before it gets to the culverts. The culverts can’t handle the water and this leads to flooding.
County Commissioner Samantha Stone agreed. She said the road has been in shambles for years. She said she was shocked when the state reclaimed it.
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