Residents in Noble, Ga., plan to finalize a petition Monday night asking Walker County officials, FEMA and federal and state representatives why East Reed Road has been impassible for four months.
"The guys in the community have threatened to get their backhoes and bulldozers and fix it themselves," said Dr. David Boyle, president of the Noble Neighborhood Association.
A bridge on East Reed Road went down during flooding in September. County officials blame the lack of repair on slow response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and uncertainty over the design for the fix.
Walker County Coordinator David Ashburn said he's expecting the final documents from FEMA any day, but said he should have already had them.
"We've been waiting now eight weeks for what they originally said would be four to six weeks," he said.
He said he hopes work on the bridge could begin by March.
Drivers must take a detour that Noble resident Helen Pace said forces too many cars and trucks down narrow, crumbling Loughridge Lane and up to Center Point Road.
"All of those people on (Highway) 95 come this way to go to (U.S. Highway) 27 and go to Walmart," she said. "And you know how many people go to Walmart."
Commissioner Bebe Heiskell said the county had first thought a culvert would be adequate to repair the road and took steps in that direction. Then officials had to make a quick about-face when they learned a bridge was needed.
She said the county would expedite the bid process and other steps as soon as FEMA signed off on the funds.
"I know the neighborhood is very anxious to get this completed," she said.
For those who live on East Reed Road, the roadblock is a safety issue and an annoyance, Mrs. Pace said. At Thanksgiving, she had to meet her out-of-town children on Highway 27 to show them the new way home.
"It's an extra mile and a half plus the hassle of getting out," she said.
During the same flooding in Catoosa County, a culvert on Mount Pisgah Road washed out. After commissioners expedited the bidding process, the project is nearly complete, according to county staff.
Mr. Ashburn said Catoosa County did the project before its funding was approved by FEMA, a gamble Walker County couldn't afford.
"They took a chance," he said. "They've got a lot more money than we do."
Dr. Boyle said he understood that budgets were tight, but he's afraid the road isn't a priority for county leaders.
"It's not a road that any of them drive," he said.