Union Twp. met with flood-damaged roads
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
Coal Bluff Road, left, and Gilmore Road are shown in 2017, when they were closed to traffic because of flood damage in Union Township.
Back-to-back flash flooding has severely damaged Coal Bluff Road in Union Township.
GASTONVILLE – Two roads remain closed to traffic in Union Township Wednesday and several other sustained damages from Saturday’s flash flooding.
The steep Coal Bluff and nearby Gilmore roads were already closed to traffic because of an earlier storm, and the weekend’s pounding rain worsened the problem, Union Supervisor Larry Spahr said.
“It came down like a monsoon,” Spahr said Wednesday when Union supervisors were preparing to meet to dicuss roads.
He said the Peters Creek watershed spilled its banks early Saturday, closing a number of roads, including Route 88.
The township declared a state of emergency that day, allowing the supervisors to hire a contractor to repair Gilmore and Coal Bluff without seeking bids for the work, Spahr said.
“It’s going to take about $300,000 to put them back into safe travel,” he said.
The township’s engineer expects to have a contractor begin working this week to repair the two roads, Spahr added.
The township also reached out to residents on Facebook last weekend asking them to email the township office with information about damaged roads. It resulted in a spate of emails citing problems on nearly 20 local roadways.