Road Collapse Has Residents Worried

Two major roads in Rogers County are getting washed away.  The News On 6 first told you about Highway 20 on Friday night.  News On 6 reporter Dan Bewley found another road a few miles away causing major problems for the same residents.

Five miles from where Highway 20 is sliding down a hill, a different road is sliding into the Verdigris River.  Residents say the collapse is uprooting their lives.

Sue Ingle has a hard time believing her own eyes.

"This was not here two weeks ago," said Sue Ingle. "The river is taking away, washing out all of this property."

The guard rail swings where dirt and trees once stood as a part of Keetonville Road is slipping into the Verdigris. The county has shut it down, forcing drivers to do an about face. Ingle says nearly 8,000 cars use the road everyday as a shortcut from Claremore to Tulsa.

"Two weeks ago it started eroding," said Ingle.

That was during the first big thunderstorm, and then came last week's gully washer.

"But now it's all eroded it's gone," said Ingle.

Five miles up the road, close to where Keetonville intersects with Highway 20, the storm left another lasting impression. Six hundred feet of the highway are sliding down Keetonville Hill. ODOT says the saturated ground underneath the road is still moving and it's closed the road for at least three months.          

The worry on Keetonville Road for Ingle is what the residents to do are. The kids go to Catoosa schools and, Ingle says, the buses will not be driving the road to pick them up. She's also concerned about emergency services.

The road is in the Limestone Fire district, Ingle worries what would happen if a home catches fire and detours force delays.

Residents say they wonder what the future holds.

"If we're going to continue using this road it needs to be a safe road," said Ingle.  

There's no word on when Keetonville Road will be repaired and ODOT says the work on Highway 20 should take several months and cost more than a million dollars.

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