DOT crews said they plan to fix a rut along the side of Highway 1010. Officials said the rut may have been caused by erosion and possibly the rural mail service. DOT engineers said they were surprised about how deep the rut was.
"Obviously, it's a situation that is a problem when we investigated and looked at it and we want to go ahead and take care of it now," DOT engineer Bryant Bunn said.
Early Saturday morning, authorities say Mikela Nicholson-Ray veered off the side of the road and overcorrected, hitting another car. She and three friends died in the crash. State troopers say excessive speed and the wet conditions were partly to blame.
Lynton Ray, Mikela's father, said he is glad to see the road fixed, but he blames the speed limit and the angle of the road for the accident.
"If they don't change the speed limit and the grading of the road, you will have this type of stuff," he said.
The DOT said the rut is a hazard for drivers now. While they say they have not received any specific complaints about the rut, they want to get it taken care of.
Sue Beasley, who lives near the site of the accident, said the road needs to be fixed.
"We have a lot of people that come over the hill and they want to come into our driveway, back out and turn around, and they have been knocked into our yard. Last year, we had our brick columns knocked down," she said. "It is just a really dangerous spot. You can't see over that hill."
DOT crews repaired the rut late Tuesday afternoon.
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