York Town News
Officials urge caution as town roads are battered and broken by rain, floods
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Public Works and public safety officials are warning residents to beware what lies beneath the road surface around town as the floodwaters begin to subside. Many roads, like the section of Mountain Road pictured above, have been compromised and can pose a serious threat to motorists even if the surface pavement does not appear to be harmed.
Photo by Paul R. Ladd III
And, according to Public Works Director Bill Bray, the full extent of the damage remains to be seen.
Clay Hill Road and Logging Road, for example, are closed with substantial damage where the roads have simply disappeared. Bray said there are about 70 locations identified as damaged and in need of review so far.
"On the surface, you see asphalt that appears to be the full width of the road … but if you look underneath, there's no gravel for about five feet," Bray said.
The town's Web site at www.yorkmaine.org updates the road closure list regularly. As of Tuesday afternoon, it included portions of Logging, Clay Hill, Shore, Bell Marsh and Josiah Norton Road as closed long-term. Roads closed due to flooding only and anticipated to reopen in the short-term include another portion of Shore Road as well as Bay, Franklin, Hawk and Reserve streets, Oceanside Avenue, Railroad Avenue Extension and associated roads, Morningside Drive and Scituate Road at the Chase's Pond Dam.
Even Route 91 and Route 1 saw closures during the height of the storm.
"Route 91 … could potentially be the most serious of all locations," Bray told the town at an information session held Monday, as three large box culverts have different levels of washouts on the road and the damage has not been determined due to the level of waters.
Town Manager Rob Yandow reiterated that some roads that appear fine from the surface might be undermined.
"The biggest thing is if we've got cones and signs out, those are all there for a purpose. People need to make sure they proceed cautiously by those areas, because if they don't it could be life threatening in a few spots," Bray said.
York Police Chief Douglas Bracy agreed.
"There's almost no road that wasn't affected in some way," he said. "We ask the people to respect the police lines we put up, respect the barricades we've put up … we don't want anyone to be injured."
In the meantime, many roads that were closed as of Monday evening have been reopened with at least temporary access infrastructure in place.
Yandow, Bracy and Bray praised the work of the public works staff in rising to the challenge.
"They did an incredible job over the weekend under some very rugged conditions. … They put an incredible effort in for the town," Bray said. "… We have a lot of work ahead of us, but the department's up for the challenge and we'll get it done."
Associate Editor Jennifer L. Saunders can be reached via e-mail at jsaunders@yorkindependent.net.
