The Starkville Board of Aldermen Tuesday approved emergency repairs for a section of Old West Point Road which collapsed Monday.
Aldermen approved up to $70,000 for the engineering, design and construction work needed to repair the section of road that collapsed about 1/4 mile south of Highway 82. The funds will be taken from a future city Capital Improvement Project budget.
Columbus-based Ellis Construction will perform the repair work. It is unclear how long motorists must wait until the section of road, closed since shortly after noon Monday, will reopen.
It was a motorist Monday who noticed a roughly 4-by-4 foot section of Old West Point Road had collapsed under the weight of his vehicle after he crossed a bridge over an unnamed tributary of Sand Creek.
A large pile of downed trees, limbs and other debris formed a dam at the bridge, which forced rushing water into the south side of the bank. Eventually, enough of the bank washed out under the road to cause the pavement to collapse at the edge of the bridge, approximately 20 feet above.
“If any load was to go on that road, it would collapse,” City Engineer Edward Kemp said Monday. “You wouldn”t want to drive or even walk on that.”
The city has set up a detour for drivers on Old West Point Road.
Motorists traveling north on Old West Point Road can turn left on Critz Street, right on North Montgomery Street, right on Butler Road and right on Stowood Road, which connects with Old West Point Road just north of Highway 82. Motorists traveling south on Old West Point Road can make a right on Stowood Road, a left on Butler Road and a left on Rockhill Road, which turns into North Montgomery Street, before making another left on Critz Street.
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