Neighbors: Hole-riddled road a safety hazard

They’ve reached out to city and state officials for solutions
Neighbors: Hole-riddled road a safety hazard
Published: Sep. 28, 2022 at 11:49 PM EDT

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A hole so large in the road that a car could fall right in -- that’s how a Williamson man described a hole on Vinson Road in Williamson, West Virginia.

“It’s a canyon, actually is what it looks like,” Steve Wilson said.

With the issue of one of a few holes on Vinson Street, locals like Wilson said they’ve been a problem since flooding on Aug. 1.

“We drive over that every single day without realizing that void is below you,” he said.

Now, nearly two months since Vinson Street was damaged, people like Bob Hensley just want to see the road fixed either by the city or the state Division of Highways.

WSAZ’s Matt Lackritz asked him some questions about the issue.

Q: Do you feel safe driving on this road?

“No,” Hensley said.

Q: Why not?

“Because I’m afraid I’m going to fall into a hole somewhere down there,” he said.

We reached out to Williamson Mayor Charles Hatfield to ask him about the problems on Vinson Street, and while he wasn’t able to meet us, he sent a statement that said:

“Fixing the damage caused by the rain event is short-term, but long term we have to engineer our way to keep this habitual problem from occurring. Vinson Street is a road paved directly above 5,000 feet of old galvanized drain that is collapsed and rusted out. I have asked the DOH to seek a long-term solution.”

We also reached out to the Division of Highways to ask them questions like, ‘Are there plans in place to fix the road?’

We were sent an email that said: “The city of Williamson and the Region 2 Planning and Development Council are working with our District 2 on long-term solutions to the drainage system on Vinson Street.”

While the DOH did not answer our question about when they would return, Wilson said he on Wednesday afternoon he received a reassuring text from a person who works for the DOH.

“I heard from them today that they plan to tend to this asphalt this either Thursday or Friday this week,” he said.