AULANDER – Years of flooding problems on a portion of Earley Station Road (SR 1228) has forced a portion of that convenient shortcut between Bertie and Hertford counties to close indefinitely.

On Thursday, the NC Department of Transportation (DOT) closed Earley Station Road just north of the Hexlena intersection due to erosion. The road runs basically north-south from the Poortown community in Hertford County to the Buena Vista community in Bertie County. It is closed in Bertie County between the Center Grove Road (SR 1235)/Brickmill Road (SR 1231) intersection to Hexlena Road (SR 1200).

“Erosion has washed away fill material under the roadbed,” DOT Division 1 Engineer Win Bridgers said Friday from his office in Ahoskie. “There’s a void under the pavement.”

Bridgers said a five-mile watershed (the Beaverdam Pocosin) causes water to collect at this spot on Earley Station Road. Heavy rain, which was noted on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and again yesterday (Friday), only adds to the problem.

“We’re currently determining what course of action to take in alleviating the problem in that particular area,” Bridgers said. “We’re researching the possibility of replacing the pipeline under the road.”

Bridgers said he could not pinpoint an exact date when the road would reopen.

“It’s closed until we can find a way to fix it,” he noted.