KNOTT COUNTY, KY.– Traffic in the Montgomery community near mile marker 5 on route 80 in Knott County was snarled by a rock slide this afternoon.
Officials with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet say that a boulder 40ft long and 10ft thick fell just after 2pm blocking both east bound lanes of route 80. Crews with the cabinet are not equipped to immediately handle a rock slide of this magnitude, so the equipment needed is expected to arrive sometime tonight. A contractor will drill the big rock into smaller pieces that can be removed. However, work on the slide is expected to be delayed.
“Due to the inclement weather that we’ve got coming in and we’ll have to stop traffic for a period of time what time we’re actually trying to bust it up. We’re going to try to wait until in the morning when the bad weather has cleared up. Until we can get it busted back and get a full lane of traffic open you can expect short delays of probably 10 to 15 minutes until we can get it back far enough that we can get one good full lane open.”
Motorists are advised that it will be critical to watch for the men who are flagging traffic, as nightfall, precipitation and fog will make it even more difficult to see.
Officials say that the recent extreme changes in temperature likely caused a rapid expansion and contraction of the rock resulting in the slide.
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