MAZOMANIE (WKOW) — About a month ago, Mazomanie was under water as historic flooding hit Dane County.
Homes were flooded and the Highway 14 bridge over the Black Earth Creek on the east side of town was damaged.
Now, the creek is still more than a foot higher than average.
Back when the creek was at nearly 10 feet, it caused major damage to the Wolf Run Trail and the Highway 14 bridge.
“It created a 15-foot hole down in the creek. That’s all new,” Fred Wolf, Mazomanie Town Board Chair, said. “There used to be 10 to 12 feet between the creek and the column. Now there’s nothing.”
The Department of Transportation is coming in Monday to begin those repairs.
The repairs come after Governor Scott Walker approved an almost $700-thousand emergency repair contract on Friday.
The repairs begin Monday but traffic on the bridge won’t be impacted, since most of the work will be done underneath.
“They’re concerned about structural damage in the future, not now,” Wolf said. “The bridge itself is in good shape.”
The DOT will be filling in the holes dug out by the flood waters, returning structural integrity to one of the bridge piers, along with fixing part of the Wolf Run Trail that was damaged.
While the bridge is in good shape, there are homes that were damaged in the flood that are no longer inhabitable, a major point of concern for Wolf.
“I know several of the residents are having trouble in that area because there’s no rental in the township or the village of Mazomanie right now to speak of,” Wolf said.
Not only that but Wolf says there are hundreds of acres of farmland that are inaccessible, with contaminated crops.
Even given that, he says people are doing well.
“The community has really wrapped their arms around this flooding damage that we’ve had and they’ve grown closer together,” Wolf said. “So I think the morale is very good.”
More details at WKOW 27 News