-
Photo by Christopher Lugo/Staff There is a creek that runs through Hickory Knut Gap Road that sometimes floods to almost two feet deep. Residents like Duncan Greenlee have to drive through the creek daily.
For the past 43 years, Scaly Mountain resident Duncan Greenlee and his neighbors have dealt with an unmaintained road with a creek that runs through it.
Greenlee said that when enough rain comes down Hickory Knut Gap Road in Scaly Mountain can see running water flow through it at an estimated two feet deep.
“Ever since I have lived in Highlands, I have had this problem,” Greenlee said. “Anytime it rains it floods like crazy. You are always driving through water, even when there is a drought. It has been up to two and a half feet deep. At one point I drove a Volkswagen and it started to float down the creek.”
For years, Greenlee said he has reached out to the NC Department of Transportation to know about the problem, since it is a state-maintained road.
“I have worked with Republican and Democratic administrations for the past 43 years and we have been promised that it was going to be fixed for the past 43 years,” Greenlee said. “They are aware of the problem. They do scrape the road occasionally. It’s not like it’s something that no one knows about. Both administrations have said that we were on the docket, that they were going to replace it, but it has never happened. They said they would build a bridge or a culvert, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
Across the board with Greenlee’s neighbors, it is unanimous - the road is a hazard.
“It damages our vehicles and makes them unsafe,” Greenlee said. “During the wintertime, the water can get in your breaks and freeze. It can destroy the structure of your car, so it rots away and falls apart. It’s just dangerous in many ways.”
In order for Greenlee and his neighbors to leave their house, they have to go through the creek, which becomes a problem when it is two feet deep.
“We are basically stuck for sometimes a day or two waiting for the water to go down,” Greenlee said. “Even when it isn’t deep, we are always having to drive through the water, and we get rust on our car.”
Greenlee said it is important for anyone who lives on a state-maintained road to live on a good road.
“My neighbors and myself speak to the DOT at least once a year,” Greenlee said. “Everyone who lives on a state-maintained road should live on a good road. Everyone should have the same right to be able to have good highway infrastructure to get where they need to go. I hope our state legislators will hear about this and do something.”
- By Christopher Lugo
