MADISON CREEK, W.Va. — Logan County residents who were unable to leave or return to their homes after a mudslide last week will soon gain access again.
The state Department of Highways is set to reopen Madison Creek Road near Lyburn to residents Thursday at 5 p.m., more than a week after it was first shut down due to several mudslides covering the road.
A contractor, hired by the state DOH, has been working since the initial slide to repair the unstable hillside and clear off the roadway once again so traffic could travel through the stretch safely.
Thanks to the resources available, the contractor was able to scrape the hillside down to the original grade for the length of the slide. Flaggers will be placed along the route, so residents may face temporary delays as they work to control traffic flow in and out of the area.
As the work to reopen the roadway progressed, the Logan County Emergency Ambulance Service Authority used a boat to evacuate 40 of the 70 residents who were stranded by the mudslide by way of the Guyandotte River.
Crews have continued to carry supplies by boat to residents who remained at their homes as well as carry residents to and from their houses. The DOH paid for temporary housing and transportation for residents who were evacuated.
Madison Creek Road will remain open temporarily while the DOH works on the next step in the process of building a causeway across the Guyandotte River. Once the bridge is completed, traffic will be shifted and Madison Creek Road will be closed once again as construction crews make more permanent repairs to the road and hillside above.
Madison Creek Road sits right between two Route 10 construction sites and some residents have blamed that work on creating the unstable conditions.
The DOH is unsure exactly how long it will take to permanently repair the roadway. They plan to release more information regarding the project as the information becomes available.