COLUMBIA, Ill. – Drivers in the Metro East are having to find an alternative way around a familiar road after parts of it collapsed over the Easter weekend due to heavy rain.

“Our concern is you’re going to have a dangerous situation with inexperienced drivers who are 16- or 17-year-olds trying to navigate this or soccer moms with their cars full of kids,” says Michelle Knickerbocker. “That’s our worry, that one of us is so distracted by life in general that we’re going to have a hard time navigating this.”

The section of Valmeyer and D Road is closed due to heavy rains and a full creek, eroding the banks of the road in this section of Columbia, Illinois.

This has been an ordeal a local resident has been dealing with.

“The city has been doing what they can, and they had to talk to the EPA, and you have to have all the county and city and drainage,” Knickerbocker said. “It involves the federal government, everything. So, it’s quite a lot.”

Columbia, Illinois, City Administrator Douglas Brimm says the city has also received a proposal from a contractor specializing in stabilization and remediation projects.

The cost of repair is estimated to be between $800k and 1 million dollars.

The city is hopeful that remediation efforts can be made during the planned upcoming closure of Valmeyer Road at Bluff Road for the Monroe County Bluff Road Bridge replacement project.

“Well, it needs to be done,” said Pat Kelly, a resident. “You know we spend money on a lot of different things, walking trails and stuff around Columbia and here and there, which is great. But we need the road to get fixed so we can travel to and from on it.”