Big rock slide creates Ohio 7 travel headache

By Connie Cartmell, ccartmell@mariettatimes.com
Commuting to work in Marietta on Ohio 7 has been a pleasant and hassle-free ritual for Tracey Wright of New Matamoras for more than 27 years.

Up to now.

A rock slide along Ohio 7 about four miles north of Newport Thursday caused no injuries, but seriously compromised the two-lane highway along the Ohio River.

“They are huge,” Wright, who is Washington County recorder, said of several boulders that fell to the roadway. “One is still up there and it’s beyond anything you can imagine (size wise). My son (Mitchell) had just driven by there Thursday, right after one fell.”

Some of the rocks have been described as the size of a small car. Along with rocks, a cascade of mud came down from the hillside.

To protect public safety, Ohio Department of Transportation officials decided to close the road to all traffic Friday. It will remain closed until engineers complete subsurface testing to determine how much work needs to be done, according to Stephanie Filson, public information officer for Ohio Department of Transportaton District 10.

Testing could happen later this week.

“It’s close to a 45-minute drive for me into Marietta. Using (Washington County 9) takes another 15 minutes,” Wright said. “When I talked to ODOT today, it sounded like Ohio 7 will be closed for a little while.”

Filson said the stretch of highway would definitely be closed this week.

“It is similar to the slips we had along Ohio 7 south of Marietta, but on a smaller scale,” she said. “Since this one is on a two-lane road, we don/t have as much space to work with to allow traffic to flow during construction.”

A portion of the road, one lane serving both directions, had been open while workers cleared debris, but after engineers assessed the problem Thursday evening, the decision to close it entirely was made.

The rock slide happened because of the winter’s normal freeze-thaw cycles and because of recent heavy rains, Filson said.

Speculation by local residents surfaced immediately after the slide that it might have something to do with the removal of trees from the land over the fall and winter months.

“At the time, everybody around here wondered about the trees being cut,” Wright said. “There was concern about what might happen if we had a lot of rain.”

There was some confusion about who cut the trees.

Filson said ODOT did not.

“I think they (people) might be referring to a project under way on the river side of the road,” Filson said. “We had always planned to do work there and it has no bearing on the rock slide on the other side of the road.”

As it turns out, American Electric Power Co. (AEP) did cut the trees down, but at the request and approval of ODOT, according to Vikki Michalski, company spokeswoman.

“If ODOT hadn’t asked us to move the power lines, we had no plans to move the lines,” Michalski said.

The transmission line had been located on the river side of the highway where ODOT has a project going to reinforce the river bank.

“The line was moved to the other side of the road and in order to do that, we had to remove trees along the path of the line,” the AEP spokeswoman said.

Local motorists are, for the most part, being patient.

“We’re, of course, wanting it done overnight, but it’s not worth killing someone,” Wright said. “I don’t mind coming around on (Washington County 9), but I don’t want my mother driving the back road.”

For Wright, commuting on Ohio 7 is a family affair.

“My husband drives to Parkersburg, and I’ve been driving to Marietta to work for 271/2 years,” said Wright. “I have a 72-year-old mother who works at Newport and drives the road.”

Wright plans to continue to use Washington County 9 as a detour, but is concerned that if there is flooding of Rays Run Road, commuters will be cut off.

“I am also concerned about the gas issue,” she said. “It’s going to take a lot more gas to go around — an added cost to people who are struggling anyway.”

Frontier Local School District is feeling the fuel and additional time pinch with Ohio 7 closed.

“It’s not real bad,” said Gary Bookman, transportation coordinator, Frontier Local Schools. “It really only impacts four bus routes. We can live with it.”

The detour costs the district about 15 extra minutes, he said.

Bookman’s opinion is that the rock slide happened after the trees were cut and power lines moved.

“I’ve lived here all my life and I can’t ever remember a rock slide like this happening,” Bookman said.