Judge orders road closure
The stretch of Bone Dry Road in front of the new Mortimer Jordan High School campus in Kimberly is closed again because of a judge’s orders.
Kimberly officials removed Winter Construction’s roadblocks on Friday and threatened to arrest any Winter employees that stood in the way.
Later that day, Winter Construction filed a temporary restraining order against the city, and a judge approved the order on Monday. The city cannot make arrests or do anything to the road for 10 days.
“We’re extremely disappointed in the judge’s position,” said Harris. “Winter Construction is going around proper channels.”
Despite the road’s closure, Harris said Kimberly police would not ticket any drivers who drove past the road block.
Kimberly Mayor Craig Harris said the city gave Winter Construction, the contractor responsible for the construction of the new campus, a 70-day period to make Bone Dry Road safely passible for traffic. Harris and the Kimberly city council said the 70-day period began on July 1 and ended on Aug. 10 and that the road should have been opened then.
Winter Construction representatives said they should technically have until Monday to make the road passible; the company wasn’t able to put up signs warning of the road’s closing until July 1, and that law states signs must be up two weeks prior to a road’s closure.
Winter Construction’s attorney, Anna Palmer, said Winter Construction anticipates having the most significant road hazards removed by Aug. 23. She also said Jefferson County Board of Education bus transportation personnel had examined the road and deemed it unsafe for school bus travel.
“Winter’s position is that permitting single lane access on Bone Dry Road at this time is imprudent and could lead to dangerous conditions for the traveling public,” said Palmer in a letter to Harris and Dr. Rafael McDaniel, director of the New Construction department of the Jefferson County Board of Education. “Should the town of Kimberly elect to undertake to open this road, Winter may be forced to seek injunctive relief to prevent an unsafe situation which could result in accident or injury to the traveling public.”
Harris said the Winter Construction gave $2,000 to the city. Harris said it was voluntary on Winter Construction’s part, and was not court-ordered.