Road Commission closes Liberty Road in Scio Township because of flooding
Liberty Road between Honey Run Drive and Stags Leap Lane in Scio Township is again closed until further notice because of severe flooding.
This is the second time this year that the road has been closed by the Washtenaw County Road Commission. The closed portion of the road is located west of Zeeb Road.
“This section of Liberty Road is classified as a local road and at least 50 percent of the funding to improve the road must come from a source other than the Michigan Transportation Fund provided to the Road Commission,” said Jim Harmon, director of operations, in an e-mail.
In addition, the road is not eligible for federal aid, he said.
Road Commission officials said they discussed the situation with Scio Township officials in 2008, but so far, there has been no funding commitment to fix the road.
“We will continue to maintain the road to the best of our ability and close it when necessary due to the occasional flooding problem,” Harmon said. According to Road Commission records, here is a list of the number of times this road has been closed previously during the last few years because of flooding.
In 2011:
March 10-16 (Severe Flooding) In 2010:
July 26-28 (Severe Flooding)
June 7-10 (Severe Flooding)
May 12-26 (Severe Flooding)
April 3-6 (Severe Flooding)
March 12-31(Severe Flooding) In 2009:
June 20-24 (Severe Flooding)
April 9 through May 7 (Severe Flooding)
Feb. 11 through March 19 (Severe Flooding)
Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com.
Comments
Elba Deeba
Fri, Apr 22, 2011 : 3:19 p.m.
The only way to "fix" it is to install a pontoon bridge. The road goes through / over what was once a lake.
DAN
Fri, Apr 22, 2011 : 1:53 p.m.
Flooding in this part of the road has been a problem as long as I can recall. any new development in this area should be banned . What is a plan that could fix this problem?
jcj
Fri, Apr 22, 2011 : 5:33 p.m.
Short of some kind of low suspension bridge I don't think it will be "fixed". Might be able to sink some pilings for the foundation for a bridge of some sort.
jcj
Fri, Apr 22, 2011 : 1:21 p.m.
Golly David, If it has been going on for over 50 years you would have thought that some left wing politicians would have fixed it long before the "TeaPublicans" had a chance to pull any funding from it! I do believe the "TeaPublicans" have only caused the calamities of the last 2-3 years.
jns131
Fri, Apr 22, 2011 : 12:15 p.m.
I remember driving by there and the Liberty Road at Zeeb being closed due to flooding and muddy roads. Pratt Road off Wagner going up hill on a very nice icy morning can also be dicey at best as well. Hate to say it, but Ann Arbor designed some very nice roads to drive in during certain times of the year and now they have to pay to clean up the mess.
David Briegel
Fri, Apr 22, 2011 : 1:13 a.m.
Golly Moscow, I grew up near there and it's been going on for much longer than 50 years!
Moscow On The Huron
Fri, Apr 22, 2011 : 1:48 p.m.
... which validates my claim of "at least 40 years." I apologize for not being as old as you.
Moscow On The Huron
Fri, Apr 22, 2011 : 12:11 a.m.
I hate it when people ask, "Why is this news?" but I guess it's my turn, so... Why is this news? This happens to that stretch of road any time somebody even spills a glass of water anywhere within a few miles of it, and it's been happening for at least 40 years.
Chip Reed
Fri, Apr 22, 2011 : 11:23 a.m.
many things that happen on a recurring basis are considered news.
David Briegel
Thu, Apr 21, 2011 : 11:57 p.m.
81wolverine, careful there, you know the TeaPublicans won't allow no tax increase to pay for such civilized things as good roads and bridges!
Adam Jaskiewicz
Thu, Apr 21, 2011 : 11:29 p.m.
There's not a ton of traffic out there. This is a regular occurrance, and it's pretty easy to just drive over to Park and go around.
81wolverine
Thu, Apr 21, 2011 : 9:52 p.m.
Geez, that's ridiculous. It's amazing anyone can tolerate living on that stretch of road. Just another example of underfunded roads in this county. I'd like to see some statistics on % of county roads that are dirt/gravel for Washtenaw vs. other counties in Michigan and neighboring states. We have a large number of dirt/gravel roads that get a lot of traffic in this county. I don't know about the Liberty Road section traffic-wise, but that place that floods can be fixed if they put a priority on it.
jcj
Thu, Apr 21, 2011 : 11:23 p.m.
81wolverine have you ever driven that section of Liberty? It is a sink hole. And while it could be fixed it is not a cheap fix. The county has put tons upon tons of stone in that 75yd section and it just disappears.
shrewdrealist
Thu, Apr 21, 2011 : 10:57 p.m.
Most of the folks that have to drive through there have trucks. It's part of the territory and they know it.