Road closures fluctuating with weather conditions
NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) (Mar. 9, 2022) – The Tuscarawas County Engineer’s office is making drivers aware of its ever-changing list of road closures as we approach spring.
The office announced the following roads are closed due to high water:
CR 109 – Somerdale Road
CR 105 – Dueber Road
CR 107 – Sandyville Road
CR 82 – Dover Zoar Road at CR 107 – Sandyville Road
CR 103 – North Orchard Road
Engineer Joe Bachman says these are the typical roads that flood above the Bolivar and Dover dams. He says his crews will put up road closed signs but won’t totally barricade the water off.
“Because there might be a house between the intersection and the actual water. There might have to be somebody who has to get to an actual house or farmland or something,” he said.
Bachman says it all depends on the weather and the operations by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“The list changes not hourly, but at least daily. As the water goes up and down or as it rains, as the water’s let out of the dams, the water goes up or down,” Bachman said.
Bachman says they’ve still had many drivers go around the road closed signs and get stuck in recent weeks, despite the consequences.
“At a minimum they’re paying a towing bill, and at a minimum I assume they’ve probably ruined their car,” said Bachman.
Bachman says the county has also been dealing with quite a bit of flooding from the Beach City Dam in the Wayne Township area this season along stretches of Walnut Creek Bottom, Trail Bottom, and Dundee-Wilmot roads.