Several residents who live along Dog Hollow Road in Irwin Township say they’ve been fighting a losing battle for years to get their road improved.
“We’ve been told before ‘You chose to live on this road,'” Amy Pile said, referring to the township supervisors. “I say yes, but you chose that position. Put a little money into this road for everybody’s safety.”
The mostly dirt and gravel road runs from Georgetown Road and enters Clinton Township before connecting to Route 308. About two miles from Georgetown Road, Dog Hollow narrows to a tight single lane with deep ditches on both sides and no visibility around sharp curves.
The last straw for Pile was a large portion of a tree trunk hanging from a utility line after clearing the rest of the tree.
“That’s going to hurt somebody,” she said.
This is the latest of a list of complaints that include cars getting stuck in ditches on narrow stretches of roadway and flat tires from an exposed culvert.
“There isn’t even room to pull over, so someone would have to back up if two cars were coming right at each other,” said Tammy Higdon, another resident.
Township supervisor Fred Emmett said the road is no worse than it always has been.
“The road has been like that for 1,000 years,” Emmett said. “I don’t know what to tell you, but I guarantee you there are no plans for widening or blacktopping or anything like that.”
Emmett said the township doesn’t have the money for extensive road work. When asked about assistance from the state, he said “Forget that.”
Township supervisor Greg Miller couldn’t be reached for comment Friday.
