YELL COUNTY, Ark. — Monday marked the start of rebuilding roadways in Yell County.
Where Highway 154 and 155 meet, you can see where the water flooded the road. And now that it’s started to recede, the county can start making necessary repairs to these roadways.
With lots of trucks and rocks, roads in Yell County are starting to look like roads again.
Yell County Judge Mark Thorne said that he hopes farmers can get to their livestock easier this week as work begins on washed out streets.
“We’re haulin’ rock and we have bulldozers and road raiders in place and trying to fix em up as the water gets gone,” he said/
Flood waters took out chunks of roadways throughout the county leaving many in shambles.
He’s asking people to remain patient as they slowly work to remove barricades and reopen roads.
“It’s going to take a while, it’s quite a bit of damage and of course state highway 155 is completely destroyed down there for a pretty good section so it’s going to be a long time before it’s repaired,” Judge Thorne said.
Drivers can expect their commute to be at least 15 more minutes when using alternate routes.
Some roads, like some sections of Highway 155, are still underwater or partially underwater. It’s going to take some time before the county can fully asses the extent of damages.
“I would estimate it would probably be later on towards the weekend before water’s off of those.”
Making these roads accessible again is especially important for farmers in the area who depend on them.
It’s important for residents to remember not to go around any barricades and not to use the roadways until they’re completely safe.