News photo by Josh Jambor Pictured is the intersection of St. Onge Street and Sunset Boulevard where flooding has turned parts of the road into a pond. Local maintenance crews have said they will be unable to make repairs until the water recedes.

ALPENA – Across Northeast Michigan water levels continue to cause concern for maintenance crews responsible for road repairs. Local road commissions say road repairs will take place once water levels recede.

Alpena County Road Commission Managing Director Ryan Brege said road repairs will have to wait until flooding dissipates, though crews have been able to make minor repairs.

“As it relates to roads closed or washed out as a result of the flooding, we are currently waiting for the water to recede and for things to dry up so we can patch things up,” Brege said. “We do have some smaller culverts that washed out that we were able to patch up and get things opened up.”

Brege explained that making repairs to a gravel road is easier for crews to accomplish than a paved road.

“Any road that is a gravel road is going to be much easier to fix than damage to a paved road,” Brege said. “Gravel roads can be repaired by simply grading the surface, adding new aggregate, and re-compacting.”

As of now it is unclear where the funds will come from to make necessary repairs, according to Brege. He said there is a possibility to pull from state resources.

“Right now, with the state emergency declaration, that allows us to access state resources for repairs, but could also lead to funding through the state for those repairs,” Brege said.

Brege said he would like the community to understand that crews are actively addressing the issues that can be fixed but a lot of repairs will have to wait for water levels to decrease.

“We just want residents and motorists to be patient; we are out fixing things as fast as we can,” Brege said. “Right now, we need to wait for the water to recede so we can examine what needs to be fixed and establish what we need to do to get those repairs done.”

Superintendent David Kowalski, from the Presque Isle Road Commission, also addressed the situation as it relates to any necessary road repairs that will have to be made.

“Culverts will take several days to repair or replace,” Kowalski said. “We cannot do anything in regard to repairs until the water recedes.”

Kowalski said funding for repairs in Presque Isle County will depend on funding from the state emergency declaration.

“As of now, there are no funds available for repairs, we have to wait and see what happens in that regard,” Kowalski added.

Kowalski said one challenge the county is facing is damage to the surface of roads near water crossings.

“There are many water crossings that have washed out the surface of the roads … we will need to re-gravel,” Kowalski said. “There are numerous ditches that will need to be cleaned as well.”

The News reached out to Oscoda County and Alcona County for comment but received no response prior to the print deadline.

Josh Jambor can be reached at jjambor@thealpenanews.com.