Federal funds to cover damage on Cole Co. road

Lower Bottom Road suffered major damage due to heavy rain over the the past couple of months in Cole County.

After a federal declaration, taxpayers can breathe a sigh of financial relief.

Lower Bottom Road has been shut down for more than a month and continues to deteriorate.

“Basically, the whole hill is sliding down if you look at the sight, you can see the open cracks on top,” said Larry Benz with Cole Co. Public Works.

“As long as we keep getting rain, it’ll probably continue to move until it reaches an equilibrium.

While precise data is still unknown, the repair project is expected to cost up to $750,000.

However, not all of that will fall on the county’s shoulders.

Federal disaster declarations allow principalities to ask the government for extra money to help in the repair effort.

Benz said it can typically be up to 75% of the repair cost.

Being chosen involved an application process, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency makes the final call.

In the meantime, geologists have drilled into the ground underneath the road to collect and test samples.

Those samples will give a better estimate of what it’s going to cost to get this county road back up and running again.