Road department takes rain check on maintenance schedule
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Road crews in Lowndes County are taking a rain check on their regular summer maintenance plans.
Back-to-back storms have kept the Lowndes County Road Department busy and off schedule.
“This uncommon rain we’ve been getting, it downpours. And just excessive amounts of water all at once have caused us to change our schedules and some of the things we normally do. We changed it, so we can accommodate the water,” said Tyrone Cunningham, the Road Department manager.
Road Department manager, Tyrone Cunnigham, said the damage is county-wide.
He said their goal is to keep roads passable.
“We have trees that fall, ditches that are needing to be unclogged, and culverts that are constantly being stopped up,” said Cunningham.
Typically, summer is a time for mowing and general upkeep — but that’s been put on hold.
“We do a lot of cutting. We do a lot of bush hogging this time of year. And because the ditches are full, filled with water, the roadbeds are wet, and the shoulders of the roads are wet, we can’t bush hog as much as we normally would do,” said Cunningham.
Even pothole repairs are washing away with the rain.
“We’ve done potholes, but it doesn’t seem like we’ve done as many as we do. Because when the rain comes, it actually washes the pothole mix out of the holes, and it’s basically doing the same thing over and over. So, we’re just constantly doing the same thing, trying to maintain the level of road safety,” said Cunningham.
District Three took the hardest hit from this weekend’s storms.
Five teams of around ten are responsible for cleaning up debris.
Cunningham is asking the community to be patient as they continue to work.
He said they are behind schedule due to the frequent storms.
