BRADFORD — Officials in the Town of Bradford on Rock County’s eastern edge say people have been removing barricades to drive on washed-out roads that have been closed after Spring Brook Bridge partially collapsed in floods during the April 17 severe storm.
Rock County officials closed a stretch of Carvers Rock Road from the entrance to Carvers-Roehl Park, south to Creek Road April 18 after discovering the Spring Brook washed out in the flood.
Carver-Roehl County Park has remained open even after the town closed the road, and town Board Chair Dave Moyer declared a state of emergency April 18.
After the county put barricades up, people moved them several times in order to drive around them.
Town officials say people have even been so brazen about moving the barricades that at one point, someone attempted to haul the barricades aside as Moyer, the town chairman, was standing on the road, watching.
Moyer flagged down the vehicle, he told Vlogý, and asked the driver why they would move barricades to drive on a damaged road.
“If they went down (into the collapsed bridge), they could have gone down four feet,” Moyer said.
Driving on the washed-out road presents a danger to those who take the risk, Moyer said.
“If there is a washout that is so bad that it’s four feet down, if you go down your car gets so jacked up you need someone to help you get out,” Moyer said.
He also pointed out that driving vehicles on roads that have been damaged and undermined by floods, before they can be repaired, can cause further damage, and compound eventual repair costs. That’s why the road, and other washed-out stretches of roads in the county, are blocked.
The town has since placed a camera near the entrance of Carver- Roehl Park.
The town has captured footage of a person it believes is driving a truck that is leaving oil stains on the road along that closed stretch. Some trucks have been caught on camera going by four or five times, Moyer said.
The town does not believe it can do much legally with the video; it’s just one measure to try to deter people from removing the barricades and driving around them.
“We would like people to obey the rules,” Moyer said. “It’s a potential hazard for those who are driving on the road. We don’t close them because we want to. It’s because we need to. It’s because it’s a strong existing hazard.”
The county twice replaced the barricades, most recently on Monday. The county has even tried blocking the road with logs, but people keep moving those, too.
The county followed suit by laying out even larger logs.
Spring Creek connects to Turtle Creek, a stream between Delavan in Walworth County east of Bradford to Beloit, which is to the southwest. There are branches of Turtle Creek that run out of Comus Lake and Delavan Lake in Delavan.
Moyer attributed the town’s road flooding, in part, to floodgates opening at Delavan Lake. The last time that happened was during the historic 2008 flood, which put the Rock River at 13.5 feet at Afton.
“We were left with nine feet of water above Turtle Creek,” Moyer said.
Moyer said other bridges still need to be inspected in the town after the flooding.
The town estimates repairs to Carver Rock Road could total $250,000, including the bridge and the culvert to the bridge. But the span needs to undergo engineering to learn if it can withstand vehicle weight after it’s repaired, Moyer said.
The road has since collapsed further after the immediate aftermath of the flood, possibly because people continue to drive on it.
The removal of barricades to drive on closed roads is not isolated to Carvers Rock Road.
Rock County Public Works Director Duane Jorgenson did not say where else he’s seen this happen, but he told Vlogý that it “has been happening all over” the county.
He said people who drive washed-out roads put themselves at risk, and they might have to turn around anyway.
“We will have crews working in these areas as we are able to, and the traveling public may encounter crews working, and may need to turn around,” Jorgenson said. “We understand this can be frustrating but safety is the priority. We have completed repairs in many areas, and are continuing to work on the rest as quickly as we can.”
The sheriff’s office said it could issue tickets and fines for removing barricades and driving through closed roads.
To get around the Carvers Rock Road closure, coming from the south, people can go west on Creek Road to Highway 140 and then go north to Larsen Road and turn right to get back on Carvers Rock Road.
