By John Howell
Woodland Road was reopened  — sort of — Wednesday after having been closed since an April 24 downpour dumped four inches of rain over the area in less than two hours.

“We’ve got it so emergency vehicles can get through, said Mendrop Engineering spokesman Henry Lawson.
“If other folks drive through, we’re not going to fuss about it; it’ll help pack it down,” said a worker standing nearby.

Residents of the Dogwood Hills Subdivision have been forced over a lengthy detour via Eureka Road and Highway 51 since Woodland was closed when a large metal culvert partially collapsed and the surrounding dirt washed out.

“They are not finished with the road but they have it packed down enough that one can drive across it,” stated one Dogwood Hills resident Wednesday night when she discovered she could drive through the construction site. “I am a happy woman!”

The Panola County Road Department came to the city’s assistance on Tuesday and Wednesday, using its trucks to haul in dry dirt to fill the large gorge dug to allow removal of the damaged culvert and replacement with twin concrete culverts.

“We’re still a long way from being finished,” Lawson said. “It’s going to be right when we’re through.”
Work remains to install several joints of culvert and to complete utility relocation and to prepare the roadbed for paving.

Utility service would not be interrupted during relocation, City Engineer Blake Mendrop said during Tuesday’s meeting of Batesville board of mayor and aldermen.

On other city engineering matters:

• Alderman approved Mendrop’s request to spend up to $50,000 to expedite completion of a connector road under construction between Pine Lodge Road and Medical Center Drive.

The money would be matched by the county to pay its contractor, Holland Construction, for the grading and seeding, “everything except the county would haul the gravel,” Mendrop said.

The connector road is a joint project by the city and county to provide additional access to shopping areas east of I-55;

• Aldermen also approved Mendrop’s recommendation to allow C Spire to place fiber optic cable on city right-of-way on Lakewood to reach Big Delta Honda.