Part of scenic route shut as rain undermines road
Posted on Friday, September 5, 2008
A section of scenic Arkansas 7 in northern Pope County that was reduced to one lane because the ground supporting the pavement became unstable earlier this year will now be closed indefinitely after rain this week threatened the integrity of the remaining lane, state highway officials said Thursday.
The section is just south of a community known as Pelsor or Sand Gap near the Piney Creeks Wildlife Management Area of the Ozark National Forest. The route is part of a state scenic byway known for its fall foliage.
With the closing of the highway, motorists must take a lengthy and winding detour that includes traveling on Arkansas 27 from Dover for 32 miles to Arkansas 16, another 11 miles to Witts Springs and 20 more miles to Pelsor.
The distance along Arkansas 7 between Dover and Pelsor is 23 miles, about 40 miles shorter than the detour route.
“Locals are going to know other detours” on county roads, said Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. “But we are only going to sign detours on state highways that can handle the same traffic.” Arkansas 164 and Arkansas 123, which together make for a shorter detour, can’t be used by truck traffic because both have bridges with posted weight limits, Ort said.
Heavy rains in March caused the first slope failure, prompting the Highway Department to limit traffic to one lane. In all, highways in 32 counties were damaged by flooding from spring rains. On July 30, Crouse Construction Co. of Harrison won a $ 492, 948 contract to repair the damaged highway and had just started the work. But the latest rains left the ground underneath the remaining lane saturated and unstable, Ort said. The instability eventually caused the remaining lane to develop a crack, said Scott Mullis, the department’s District 8 engineer.
“Because of the potential instability of the roadway, we decided to close the highway to through traffic,” he said. Neither Mullis nor Ort could say how long the road will be closed. The department likely will use the same contractor and contract to perform the expanded repairs. “We may have to change the scope of work,” Ort said. “But it will be quicker to change the scope of work on the existing contract than work up a new one and advertise it and everything else.”
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