It's getting to be a common occurrence here in Cabell County. Winter comes, winter goes, and a section of road slips over the hill. A two-lane road becomes a one-lane road. And people wonder when it will ever be fixed.
Residents along Fudges Creek Road face that problem. Their road has had a slip since last winter. It's bad enough for cars, but school buses from Salt Rock Elementary School, Barboursville Middle School and Cabell Midland High School use it daily.
Patty Pauley, transportation director for Cabell County schools, said bus drivers have not yet complained about the slip on Fudges Creek.
"They're just used to negotiating through a lot of things," Pauley said.
Ed Armbruster, assistant district engineer for maintenance for the West Virginia Division of Highways, said permanent repairs for the slip are being designed. Because the slip is in a straight, clear section of road, it is passable, he said.
Armbruster noted that the Fudges Creek slip is one of several the DOH is dealing with, and it is not the worst.
As the warden in the movie "Cool Hand Luke" was fond of saying, "What we've got here is a failure to communicate."
It wouldn't hurt if the Division of Highways took a more proactive approach to letting people know what the plans are for repairing the numerous slips and slides in the county. This sort of work isn't easy, and it's not cheap. Once started, it can take several days or even weeks.
The DOH can't fix every slip immediately. But it can do a better job in communicating a list of work to be done and the present schedule for doing it. That would help people who use these roads to know what to expect, and it would save the DOH some grief from people who grow more and more frustrated as the months pass and the slips grow bigger.