Several roads closed due to flooding

0
The entrance to Grant Road, near the Cygnet I-75 interchange, is closed due to high water on
the road as traffic heading north moves along I-75. (Photo: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune)

Areas through southern Wood County are experiencing flooding,
and numerous roads were closed following unseasonably warm weather and significant rainfall this
weekend.“I would like to remind drivers that areas that normally didn’t flood did flood this time, and
you have to be extremely cautious when driving across water,” because it is difficult to tell its depth
or if any of the road has been washed away, said Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn this morning.A Sheriff’s Office
dispatcher indicated the following roads were closed by the agency:• Jerry City Road between Potter and
Wingston Roads.• Roundhead Road Between Hammansburg and Dunn Roads.• Dunn Road west of Roundhead Road.•
Holcomb Road at Ohio 199 and Kaskie Road.• Grant Road south of Cygnet Road.• The intersection of U.S.23
and Ohio 105.According to the Ohio Department of Transportation’s OHGO website, additional closings
included: Ohio 18 in both directions between Milton Road and Ohio 235, and between Tarr and Poe Roads;
Ohio 281 in both directions at Solether Road; and the Interstate 75 Northbound ramp at Cygnet
Road.According to rainfall figures gathered at the Bowling Green wastewater treatment plant on Dunbridge
Road, more than 2.84 inches of rain fell during the 72 hours ending at 12 a.m. today. The figure does
not account for snow melt.“They’re a total mess,” said Gary Britten, superintendent of the Wood County
Highway Garage, of the roads this morning. He added North River Road, between Zepperneck and Wayne Road,
to the list of closures.“That’s our usual problem spot.”“And we have Euler Road closed just west of
Wapakoneta Road. And we’ve got numerous, even too many to mention, high water spots. Guys are going back
out today. The night crews were out” cleaning debris off the roads – items that have floated away due to
high water.“That stuff will freeze in the road and then it really becomes an issue,” Britten explained.
“We’re hoping by the end of the day most of the water should be off the road except for those two roads
that we have closed.”He indicated that the southern half of the county was experiencing the most
issues.“When the stuff melts, the stuff in the field and the yard all melts first. The ditches don’t.
They usually stay full of snow,” but eventually they become full of water, and the normal flow of water
in culverts becomes a problem.“The last place for the snow to go away is right in the middle of the
ditches.”Also, said Britten, still-frozen ground has stopped water from seeping down naturally.“I think
we’re lucky it hadn’t frozen harder than it was, actually.”Britten indicated that a number of signs have
been put out to warn drivers.“Even though they know the weather’s bad… (drivers) still want to drive
55 miles an hour.”

No posts to display