Authorities closed a portion of Lystra Road in northeastern Chatham County on Monday after the pavement collapsed where the road passes over an arm of Jordan Lake.
North Chatham Volunteer Fire Department Deputy Chief Mark Riggsbee said his department had crews on the scene of the cave-in and was awaiting a state Department of Transportation crew to evaluate the road.
“We don’t know if the dirt’s been eroded because the lake has been so high and now it’s going back down” or if culverts under the road have collapsed or if there is another reason, Riggsbee said.
He said the closing was unlikely to affect his department’s response time for emergency calls, but several minutes might be added to added to the time it would take county Emergency Medical Service ambulances to get from a station to a call.
The section of Lystra Road that is affected is between Farrington Point Road on the east and Jack Bennett Road on the west.
“It might be something where DOT can dump a load of gravel in” and reopen the road, Riggsbe said, or the problem may be more serious and require more extensive repairs.
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