Photo by Ryan Quintel Local authorities in Alpena respond to flooding on Golf Course Road on Monday.

ALPENA – Flooding in Northeast Michigan is beginning to destroy local roads and even strand people in their homes because the roads are becoming impassable, especially in Alcona County.

Local road commissions, along with Michigan Department of Transportation officials, have been responding to flooding issues throughout the area which has been caused by the spring snow melt and above average precipitation levels.

The flooding has already caused severe damage to many roads in Alcona County and more rain and flooding is expected until the end of the week.

Managing Director for the Alcona County Road Commission, Jesse Campbell, described some of the flood damage his crews have responded to.

“Right now, we have a lot of people that are stranded on our dead-end roads, especially near the streamlines,” Campbell said. “We are trying to see if we can either add material or at least get them through so that they can access the road.”

“Unfortunately, at a couple of these locations the culverts have either been swept away or there is a high volume of water flowing through them,” Campbell added.

As of Monday afternoon, Alcona County had 14 roads that have been washed out and there is serious concern over how high that number could go.

“On the hills we have asphalt that has been washed away that’s undermining the actual sub structure to the point the road washed out and they are down to one lane,” Campbell explained. “In some cases, the culvert is still stable, and the water just washed out across the road, and in other cases the culvert washed out and ended up downstream.”

With the forecast calling for additional rain throughout the week Campbell is keeping a close eye on the possibility of any additional precipitation.

“It’s one of our top concerns, especially with the amount of road closures we already have, it seems like there is more every minute,” Campbell said. “The number of closed roads continues to go up, we just found three additional roads that had not been reported yet.”

If the precipitation subsides and the water recedes enough to access the damage caused from the flooding, it is going to take some time to repair roads.

“It is hard to say right now, we are trying to repair as we go but it seems like every 15 minutes, we are stumbling upon new locations that were not reported,” Campbell said. “Right now, our goal is to try and get everything passable that we can, we will work on our primary roads first that have high volumes of traffic, and then our side roads.”

“We have a couple locations where people are stranded and we will not be able to get access to them for the next 24 to 36 hours,” Campbell added.

Communications Specialist for the North Region of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), James Lake, discussed some of the flooding issues that have been brought to his attention.

“Our concerns mimic what we are seeing locally, these heavy rains combined with melting snow is overwhelming some of the water maintenance features like culverts to the point where they are being washed out,” Lake said.

Lake discussed some of the damage that is being caused to roads because of the excess amount of water.

“We have some erosion that is happening in some locations, often near a culvert, or the road itself, that have become saturated with water and have become spongy,” Lake said. “This is the time of the year where we are typically lifting seasonal weight restrictions as the ice leaves the roadbed but it’s a lot of water and it’s all trying to reach the lake, and it causes erosion in the process.”

The decision to close the Bascule Bridge in Cheboygan was done in conjunction with MDOT, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Cheboygan County Road Commission.

“The Cheboygan Bascule Bridge is owned and maintained by MDOT but we contract with the Cheboygan County Road Commission to operate it,” Lake said. “We have been in close contact with local emergency management, the road commission, the DNR, and our statewide emergency operations center.”

“Our decision to close the bridge to vehicle traffic and leave it in the up position was done in consultation with all of those entities,” Lake added.

Presque Isle Road Commission Superintendent David Kowalski said there has been only one road closure so far and damage to roads is not wide spread yet.

“We had to close South Porter Road off M-68 to the south Monday morning and might lose a culvert there so that road is not passable at all,” Kowalski said. “We have not had any issues with roads washing out yet, we have some water crossing the road here and there, but they are holding their own so far.”

The Alpena County Road Commission could not be reached for comment.