EATON COUNTY, Mich. — The intersection of Canal Road and Columbia Highway in Eaton County is shut down because of safety concerns.
Authorities say a truck fell through the ice there over the weekend and the driver had to be rescued.
Currently, there are road barricades on each side of the road. Neighbors who live nearby are telling Fox 47 that flooding at that intersection has been an issue for years.
"It goes on every year, two times, three times a year it floods out like this. Sometimes it takes months for it to clean up. This is going to take a long time," said Steven Schaub, who lives off of Columbia Highway.
Schaub has been living off of the highway for 30 years and says there is nothing that can be done to fix the flooding.
"I think all these people are fed up. I mean Canal is the main road to Eaton Rapids and this is the only way to, you know, to go to Lansing or Eaton Rapids and we got to go around to get to it," he said.
On the other side of Columbia Highway, Matt Clymer has been living on Canal Street for the past 18 years. He said one of his biggest concerns isn't just the flooding. He said he sees at least 30 to 40 cars turn around in his driveway a day and he is fed up.
"My driveway is the last driveway just before you can't go any farther. So my driveway is getting washed away from semi-trucks backing in here to regular economy cars," he said.
The Eaton County Road Commission manager said they're aware of the flooding issues at the intersection. They said the intersection is experiencing draining issues.
"It's just a very large volume of water that we got in a very short period of time," said Blair Ballou, Eaton County Road Commission manager.
Manager Ballou expects the flooding to go down before spring, but in the meantime, Ballou said not to go past the barricades.
"We'll remove the signs as soon as we can. As soon as we think it's safe and the water has gone down enough that traffic can get through safely," Ballou said.
The Eaton County Sheriff Office says you can get a ticket if you drive past traffic signs that say the road is closed.
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