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Highway Department Begins Patching Up Highway 59 In Van Buren

VAN BUREN (KFSM)- The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department is making repairs to a portion of Highway 59 in Van Buren after drivers say the road cracke...

VAN BUREN (KFSM)- The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department is making repairs to a portion of Highway 59 in Van Buren after drivers say the road cracked and sunk following days of torrential rain in May.

Candace Porter owns Arkansas Cheer Academy along the damaged section of the highway about two miles north of Interstate 40.

"It's been pretty hectic,” Porter said. "All the parents having their concerns and the children coming in asking about the road and are we still going to be able to have practices."

Jason Hughey is an engineer with AHTD, District 4.

“It was a two to three inch bump in the road for a period of time,” he said about the cracked highway.

According to Hughey, crews drilled between 20 to 50 feet deep to study what's below the surface of the road.

"To see what's causing it to move obviously," he said. "We've had a lot of rain in the last few weeks. The ground has been very saturated. Depending on what kind of material is underneath the ground sometimes you get a situation where one layer will move while another doesn't and that can cause this sliding."

Joseph Hernandez has lived along Highway 59 for four years.

“It's kind of frustrating to be honest, trying to come in and out of my driveway, people blocking the driveway, having to keep honking my horn,” he said.

Hughey said right now there's no timeline for when the project will be complete and the AHTD said it's too early to put a dollar amount on the damage.

Both lanes are open, but highway officials urge drivers to use caution in the area.

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