Webster County, Mo., family says a bridge near home is causing property damage

ROGERSVILLE, Mo. (KY3) - The Johnston family says Webster County road crews installed a bridge outside their home in 2018.

They say the reasoning behind it was to help keep gravel out of people’s lawns in times of heavy rain. But the Johnston family says the bridge has only made things worse.

”It’s been a problem ever since,” said Donald Johnston. “And it gets washed out what happens, it gets washed out, they fill it in, it gets all washed out back into here. It’s just an eyesore.“

The Johnston family says since the bridge was built, they have been reaching out to the Webster County Roads Department and local representatives. But they feel as though their cries for help have, for years, fallen on deaf ears.

”We talked to our representative, district 141,” said Johnston. “And she hasn’t really got back to this or anything. And the county commissioner Webster County, he sees what’s going on here, and he says just the same thing over and over again, he keeps putting gravel in here, and it washes on down, and then they fill it back in.

Johnston says the issue has gotten so bad that they can’t even use their yard.

“We can’t even use any of our yard right now,” said Johnston. “Because most of it’s all washed away, my wife’s flower bed’s all gone, and we can’t really plan any tomatoes or anything out here because we know once the rain comes, it’s going to come up and wash everything away.”

Johnston says all he and his wife want is for the issue to be fixed.

“They’re going to have to take this old bridge out of here, and I’m not an engineer, but they’re gonna have to figure out some way, maybe a taller bridge with bigger areas for the water to go through,” said Johnston.

We reached out to the Webster County Roads Department. It did not respond before publication.

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