News
Landslide In Hocking County One Of Dozens Damaging SE Ohio Roads
By: Liam Niemeyer
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An Ohio Department of Transportation official says another landslide in southeastern Ohio has partially collapsed a road in Hocking County adding to the unusual amount of landslides reported this spring.
ODOT Public Information Officer Ashley Rittenhouse said a clogged drainage pipe underneath a part of State Route 374 between Cantwell Cliff Road and Woltz Road caused rainwater to erode away the side of the road.
ODOT officials discovered the damage Sunday. One lane of the road is closed with a temporary traffic light put in place.
This landslide is one of at least 70 landslides reported this spring that damaged roads in southeastern Ohio. Rittenhouse said ODOT usually in the past only receives around six to twelve reports of landslides during this time of year.
“We’ve seen an excessive amount of rain in the late winter, early spring months that has resulted in excessive moisture along our roadways and unfortunately also all of the landslides we are seeing,” Rittenhouse said. “It’s really unprecedented the amount of repairs we are making to these roads because of the landslides.”
Rittenhouse said the road most likely will not be repaired until December because of all the other landslide road damage ODOT workers are trying to repair across the region.
Rittenhouse said motorists should be mindful of road damage throughout the region and allow for more travel time when driving on roads being repaired.