RAEMON — Despite multiple efforts to repair a private road, a Raemon man finds himself at a dead end.
Johnny Locklear has reached out to local, state and federal government agencies trying to get help repairing a section of Blackfoot Trail that was washed out after Hurricane Florence struck Robeson County in September 2018. Since then, his neighbors have been driving across Locklear’s property and using his private driveway to avoid the washed-out section of the private dirt road to gain access to U.S. 501.
Locklear, 46, has lived on 18 acres of land in Raemon, which is about eight miles south of Maxton, for 10 years with his wife and daughter and is accustomed to sharing his driveway with his sister, her husband and one other neighbor. But, since the waterline burst, his driveway has become “an interstate” for 14 of his neighbors, Locklear said.
Even emergency services must drive across his property to assist his neighbors, and county Public Works employees must do the same to read meters.
A water line also burst in the days after Florence and added to the destruction of the section of Blackfoot Trail.
“We got up that morning and there was no water,” Locklear said.
The waterline ran directly beneath the road between ponds on either side of the road. Water flowed from the burst pipe for 24 hours before it was turned off and repaired, Locklear said.
County officials attribute the waterline damage to flooding caused by Hurricane Florence.
“The aftermath of Hurricane Florence caused damage to Blackfoot Trail. The pond overflowed, which caused the overflow pipe to collapse,” said Emily Jones, Robeson County government’s public information officer. “When the overflow pipe collapsed, it caused the 4-inch county water line to collapse, which resulted in a gap in Blackfoot Trail that is 20 feet wide by 10 feet deep. The county’s 4-inch water line did not cause the gap in the road.”
H.G. Locklear, of HRS construction, estimated it would cost $35,695 to restore the road to its previous condition.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would reimburse the county for the repairs, but the county didn’t want to pay to fix the road, H.G. Locklear said.
Blackfoot Trail is classified as private property.
“Robeson County does not provide assistance to fix a privately owned road,” Jones said.
The county did try to help.
“Emergency measures took place and emergency vehicles had to use the road to access citizens that lived on Blackfoot Trail,” Jones said. “Robeson County was contacted by N.C. Emergency Management for the county to apply for reimbursements/resources for the property owners along Blackfoot Trail.”
The county sent the application to the state for reimbursement for residents of Blackfoot Trail, Jones said.
Johnny Locklear said he was contacted by N.C. Emergency Management and FEMA last week and was told the assistance had been denied.
“We’ve been getting the runaround for the last nine months,” he said.
His neighbors gathered at his sister’s home in October 2018 to fill out paperwork for assistance from FEMA.
“FEMA was telling them they could qualify up to $30,000 per home to help fix the access road,” Locklear said.
The federal agency told them they needed an agent to work with the agency, and the county stepped in as that agent, filling out the paperwork and sending it to Raleigh.
So far, nothing. In the meantime, if the road is not fixed soon the residents could lose their homeowners insurance.
The road also poses a problem if there is an emergency, such as a fire.
“That’s a matter of life and death back there,” said Troy Hunt, a firefighter with Queheel Fire Department in Maxton.
It is a “safety issue” for emergency personnel, which may not know that the road is out, Hunt said. The delay could affect response time and the crew’s ability to save lives.
