A section of St. Matthews Church Road that crosses High Rock Lake has been closed indefinitely because a crack in it has gotten worse and the roadway is shifting, a N.C. Department of Transportation official said.
The Transportation Department has closed both directions of the 1800 block of St. Matthews Church Road, between Bringle Ferry and Stokes Ferry roads. That section of the road is a causeway over an inlet on High Rock.
Kevin Neal, county maintenance engineer for the state road agency, said local transportation officials noticed a crack in the road about three weeks ago. He just learned today how bad it had become.
“The crack is significant, and the shoulder there is slumping off, the guardrail is shifting some,” Neal said. “Something’s causing it to slough off quickly,”
Officials made the decision Friday to close the road, Neal said, because, “it’s a local road, it’s a short detour and let’s just close it so we don’t have anybody fall off the road.”
Neal said he’s not sure when repair work will start on the road. Experts will be called in to examine the damage and determine what caused it before making a recommendation, then repairs will be scheduled, he said
The Transportation Department recommends Bringle Ferry Road or Stokes Ferry Road to Ribelin Road as a detour.