Utility poles and wires moved; Madison Creek Road slip repair may begin

CABELL COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - In early October, WSAZ’s Kimberly Donahue traveled to a steep road slip on a portion of Madison Creek Road in the Salt Rock section of Cabell County.

Darrell Ross expressed his concerns to Donahue and said it was not the first time there had been a slip along the road. He recalled in 2021 when a bigger portion of the road was part of the slip.

A spokesperson for the West Virginia Division of Highways told WSAZ, the road had initially slipped due to “a steep slope combined with runoff.” The spokesperson also said the first slip was repaired with a 125-foot piling wall.

However, Ross said shortly after, parts of the road once again began to slip.

At the time, a spokesperson for the West Virginia Division of Highways told Donahue work on the slip couldn’t start until utility poles and wires had been moved so crews could be in the area without disrupting utility service to customers but had said design engineers were working on the project.

In November, the Rosses told Donahue Appalachian Power had moved their poles.

On Friday, they said the wire relocation by Armstrong Communications had finished.

Donahue reached out to both companies Monday and both confirmed their work on moving the poles and wires had been complete.

Donahue reached back out to the West Virginia Division of Highways asking several questions including the status of the project the design engineers were working on and when neighbors can expect to see crews working on repairing the slip.

Monday afternoon, Rob Pennington, District 2 Engineer for the West Virginia Division of Highways said:

The final design for the repair should be completed this month. The project will be scheduled in conjunction with other slips in need of repair, and WVDOT will make the public aware by press release of any necessary closures or delays when on-the-ground work is about to begin. On-the-ground work includes installing a steel piling wall, and paving in spring 2024 when asphalt plants reopen. A pipe has been placed in the ditch line with gravel to add additional width to the roadway and channel water. This will allow traffic more roadway width.

Meanwhile, Darrell is hopeful with the work.

“There could be a wreck down there yet. It could happen easily because they haven’t fixed it yet,” he said. “Somebody’s gonna get hurt if they don’t step on it and get it fixed and put their guard rails up, fix the slip right.”