Residents want long-term repairs made to Lawrence County road

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ark. (KAIT) - Residents in Lawrence County are sounding off about the condition of their county road.

The Armstrong family lives on County Road 131, just south of Imboden.

Deanna Armstrong explained a county road grater came through not too long ago but is afraid that will change with rain in the forecast over the next few days.

“As soon as it rains, it gets right back to the deep holes. It’s tearing our vehicles up,” she said. “Something needs to give because they are really lacking in taking care of the roads.”

Deanna said the road has many issues, including mud and deep potholes. She said just blading the road isn’t enough of a long-term fix.

“Right now, I know the road looks good now, they just grated it. If you were here when they grated it, it was basically mud, dirt, sticks, limbs, just pushed to the side of the road. No gravel,” she said.

Deanna explained the roads are not only an inconvenience, but they sometimes interrupt her family’s way of life.

“My husband drives a big truck, and he can’t even bring his truck home because it sits so low to the ground, and it will drag bottom coming over those holes,” she explained.

Deanna said there were a few things she wished would be done to the road.

“They need to come in and cut the holes out, and they need to bring in new gravel than just patching them up because as soon as it rains, they’re right back to where they were,” she remarked.

Dale Armstrong said he has lived on County Road 131 for nearly 18 years.

They both said they understood newly-elected County Judge Gary Barnhill inherited a challenging situation with the county roads, but they want to see some significant repairs soon.

“It’s going to take a while to get everything done because it’s been so many years that nothing’s done. Until they get started on it, nothing’s going to get done, so they need to start working on it now,” Dale said.

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