Frustrated Jefferson County resident places handmade warning signs along the road in response to potholes

Little Rock, Arkansas – With striking homemade signs, a community in Jefferson County has escalated their concerns over deep potholes on the road leading to their neighborhood.

Residents of Island Harbor Marina claim that for the past six years or so, the levee road that leads to their neighborhood—Island Harbor Marina Road—has badly needed repair.

“It’s been just a constant problem to get them to come out and work on the levee at all,” said David Bowerman, fire chief of the Island Harbor Marina Volunteer Fire Department.

One local woman claims that a pothole on the road seriously damaged her automobile, costing her $8,000.

Exasperated, a family friend decided to put up signs along the road alerting drivers to the dangerous conditions. The signs said things like “big *** pothole” or “tighten up bra straps, remove dentures, rough road ahead.”

According to the fire department, emergency vehicles are at risk due to the condition of the road.

“There’re actually open sinkholes on the road now, where it’s getting washed out underneath. And those are the ones we’re concerned with, with the fire trucks. Because fire trucks, they carry 1500 gallons of water, and that’s a lot of weight. We’re just really starting to get nervous to even drive down that levee,” Bowerman said.

Residents of Island Harbor Marina argue that the road just needs to be repaved at this stage, but the county’s road department claims it lacks the funding to reconstruct the 3.6 mile route, which they estimate would cost roughly $1.5 million.

“We don’t have the funding to redo the road, I know that’s what they want. This year is just going to be a real, real slow go, because my budget’s not going to handle it—what our county roads actually need,” said Rickey Bullard, director of the Jefferson County Road Department.

Roads around Arkansas were severely damaged during the January snowstorm, and Jefferson County was no exception.

Bullard estimates that of the county’s 980 miles of roads, roughly 700 miles require repair. However, the road department only has two pothole crews, each consisting of four men.

“All my guys have been working nonstop. We only got 36, maybe 37 employees for this whole entire county,” he said.

Bullard states that while larger, arterial roads are the county’s top priority, Island Harbor Marina Road needs to be repaired.

Residents will therefore have to continue living in the pothole’s shadow for the time being-yes, some of them are that deep.

“I’m just asking the citizens to be patient with us, man,” Bullard implored.