Repair work finally begins on Jeremiah Drive

Posted

After months of waiting, residents of Jeremiah Drive are beginning to see the first stages of repairs to raise a section of the road to prevent flooding.

Crews from the N.C. Dept. of Transportation arrived Monday morning to begin the work to increase the elevation of the road by at least five feet to prevent the waters of Jordan Lake from flooding the road.

Since last fall’s hurricanes, residents along the road which is located off of Lystra Road in the Northeastern portion of Chatham County has been suffering through numerous flooding incidents, blocking access to their homes as rains continued to fall throughout the late fall and winter. As recent as mid-April, residents were warned that their road would likely be under water for two weeks — leaving residents to use small boats to get to and from their homes.

Earlier this year, pressure from residents and elected representatives convinced the NCDOT to approve an immediate project to raise the road’s elevation.

According to Brandon Jones, Division Engineer for NCDOT, the crews on the scene this week were from neighboring Randolph County as they “have the experience” in this type of construction. Crews from Chatham’s NCDOT offices in Siler City will also be participating in the effort later in the project.

Crews are currently moving equipment into place and implementing erosion control measures. There is also some “pipe work” that needs to be done, extending pipes prior to filling the area to raise its height.

Jones hopes that the work will be done by the end of June or July. But Jones warned weather may be a factor in the timeline. The occasional rain shower should not cause any delay, but if the region suffers significant rain or if the levels of Jordan Lake rise, flooding the road, work will cease temporarily.

Because the road is a dead-end, the work crews will need to maintain access during the construction for both residents and emergency vehicles.

Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@chathamnr.com.

Chatham County, Jeremiah Drive, NCDoT, Flooding