ROANOKE, Va. – The flash flooding which put parts of Southwest Virginia at a standstill Wednesday is fading away, and it likely has not left much of a lasting impact on the area’s major roads.
Virginia Department of Transportation spokesperson Jason Bond believes the flooding did not cause any major damage on any highways. That includes Orange Avenue in Roanoke, which was closed Wednesday due to flooding near its intersection with Hollins Road.
VDOT started a project to improve the Orange Avenue/Hollins Road intersection last month. However, Bond believes the project may not have been affected by the flooding because it is early in the construction process.
He said the biggest challenge is repairing roads severely damaged by May’s rainstorm, particularly Route 116 in Franklin County and Route 460 in Giles County.
“It’s just been very overwhelming at times with the amount of damage and with how quickly the storms have come through, in terms of prolonged events for days on end,” Bond said.
The Route 116 repairs are estimated to cost $2 million, while the Route 460 repairs have an estimated price tag of $1 million.
Bond said the nonstop rain has made it difficult to intensely focus on both projects.
“It has been very slow going because we had additional rainfall that has complicated working in the earth,” Bond said. “It has pulled resources off of those repair jobs onto other flooded routes.”
Bond projects the Route 116 repairs could finish around Labor Day.