Last week residents of Undi Road, located five miles south of Forks, that live past milepost 1.1, were visited by the Jefferson County Sheriff. The sheriff was delivering a six-page document from Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management stating the following:
“Hazardous Conditions on the Undi Road-Permanent Closure of Road in Near future Likely”
“The County road known as Undi Road is extremely unstable at milepost 1.1 and significant settlement has been observed. If the condition worsens, the road will become impassable. It is not possible to know when that will happen, but there is high likelihood that the road will soon become completely unusable.”
The notice goes on to say the purpose of the notice is to give residents sufficient time to consider the impact of a long-term closure and to give time to take appropriate action. No alternate route around the slide area is available. It also is possible that the closure will be long-term, perhaps even permanent.
Jefferson County Commissioners recently passed a resolution closing the road from milepost .09 to the road’s terminus to all but local traffic and mail service.
Undi Road, like a number of roads south of Forks, has a long history of problems and repairs. But this time it sounds like Jefferson County is washing its hands of the problem road, leaving long-time residents in a panic.
Residents that live on the road ask that drivers adhere to the county’s request that the road be used by local traffic only. The unstable road cannot take much traffic activity.
This decision not only affects the residents with an uncertain future but also impacts access by emergency vehicles. It also impacts access to the Bogachiel Rain Forest Trail, a popular destination for locals and visitors to the area.
