Hall roads start to recover from weekend storm

GAINESVILLE - Hall County Commissioners observed Monday that damaged roads are recovering from the spring deluge that struck the area this weekend, but some roads are taking longer to fix than others.

Road Maintenance Superintendent Jimmy Hightower said Stephens Road was a complete washout, a virtual sink hole. He's having an onsite meeting with contractors on starting repairs at nine o'clock Tuesday morning.

"The repairs should be getting started probably Thursday," Hightower said. "The completion of that road will be at least two weeks."

The road is closed to through traffic, but residents can get home on either side of the wash out on Flat Creek Road or Jim Crowe Road. Commissioner Scott Gibbs said there was no lack of maintenance involved, it was just that 'Mother Nature came out on top'. Gibbs estimated that seven and a half inches of rain fell on South Hall County in six hours Sunday.

"It was a pipe failure and basically the whole structure collapsed and removed the whole road bed," Hightower added. "We'll re-establish the whole road. We'll install the cross drain, the culvert, the box culvert and put the road back in place like it was."

Hightower said several roads were impassible and closed because of storm water. Most of the water flow occurred in the Lights Ferry area. He expected Trudy Drive to open Monday afternoon with complete repairs. Only Stephens Road remains closed.