Eastside road remains closed after monsoon rips apart asphalt | News

TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) – Part of an eastside road remains closed after recent monsoon rains appeared to lift a piece of it up.

The damage is forcing drivers to detour as Pima County said “emergency road repairs” are needed before Broadway Boulevard just west of Freeman Road can reopen. A man who lives nearby shot video of floodwaters last Saturday night that appeared to lift and bend the road when a roaring wash collided with Broadway Boulevard after a large monsoon storm.

The man declined to talk on-camera but said the sight prompted him to call the Pima County Sheriff’s Department about the road. The man told News 4 Tucson he has never seen anything like that in the 20 years he’s lived in the area.

Pima County announced the closure earlier this week, but plenty of drivers are still unaware.

“Right now when I was coming this way, is the first time I see that it’s closed off,” Julio Celaya said. “I did see it yesterday when we came through here, the road was kind of chewed up.”

Damaged and ripped apart asphalt has made parts of the road bumpy. The wash that crosses the road also did damage to a neighbor’s fence.

Several of those who live nearby or drive through the area declined to go on-camera but told News 4 Tucson the asphalt is pretty new.

“Because it just got repaved,” Celaya said. “I know the construction workers were out here for a while, redoing it. Now we get the first storm, and it washed out some of the roads.”

The county is aksing drivers to be cautious in the area and obey signs and barricades.

News 4 Tucson reached out to Pima County for more information this afternoon on the damage, a potential timeline for the area to reopen and about the recent repaving. Mark Evans, a Pima County spokesperson, confirmed he had received the inquiry and was working to provide additional information.

News 4 Tucson had not received more information as of Wednesday night.