Highway 120 remains closed at the dam
By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
“We know now what the dam can take and the dam can take a lot,” Village of East Troy Public Works Director Jason Equitz told the Village Board members at Monday night’s meeting.
Equitz updated the board on the last week’s storm and flooding and the damage the heavy rains caused in the village, including the Honey Creek dam, which was overtopped by floodwaters on July 12.
Equitz said Highway 120 at the dam will remain closed until the dam can be drawn down and inspected.
“The DNR made the call to keep the road close,” he said. “We need to take the level down 3 feet to assess the dam before we open the road up.”
Because the water levels remain high in the area, and more rain is expected this week, Equitz said it could be some time before they can draw the water down enough to inspect the dam and spillway. He said they first had to draw down the Troy marsh and then proceed with caution as they lower the water levels at the dam because they don’t want to stress dams further downstream, which ultimately flow into Burlington.
“We began to pull the boards today at the dam,” Equitz said Tuesday morning. “Downstream is catching up and as we start drawing ours down it’s not going to flood anyone else.”
Equitz said the last thing they wanted to do was cause more water problems in the Burlington area, so residents would need to be patient and understand it could take quite a while before Highway 120 was open.
“I don’t know how long the road will be closed,” he said.
Equitz praised the Village of East Troy Police Department and village administration for their help and support through the disaster.
“They really stepped up,” he said. “The PD and administration was right there for us. And specifically the chief (Alan Boyes), this was my first time with something like this and the chief was really there for me and really guided me along.”
Carver School Road
While the village didn’t lose the dam or any roads in last week’s flooding, the Town of East Troy wasn’t so lucky.
Part of Carver School Road washed away in the storm.
“Basically, all the rain overtopped the culvert and started working away on it and blew it out,” township DPW Superintendent Greg Twelmeyer said. “I’ve been here 38 years and I’ve never seen rain and flooding like this.”
Twelmeyer said they were going to try to winch the culvert out on Wednesday and the Town Board met on Saturday, to declare an emergency so they could streamline the repair process.
“We have engineers working on the repair plans now and we’re hoping somewhere in the next two months it’s completed, at least that’s our hope.”
Twelmeyer said the township had a few “little wash outs” in other areas, but Carver School Road was the biggest.
“Bell School Road is open and only Carver School Road is closed in the town now, everybody can get to their houses,” he said. “It’s a little inconvenient right now for them with Highway 120 still closed, but they can still get to their homes.
