Demorest wall to be fixed, nearly 3 years later

After almost three years, what’s one more week?

The repairs to the wall on Central Avenue in Demorest were set to begin Monday, May 2, but they will be delayed a week due to a desire not to disrupt Piedmont’s graduation ceremony.

Piedmont’s spring graduation is set for 1:30 p.m. on Friday, May 5, so the construction will now begin Tuesday, May 9.

Vertical Earth is the Department of Transportation’s contractor that will undertake the project that has been waiting for a true fix since the hurricanes of October 2020 damaged it severely. The DOT put a pile of rocks in the hole that finally collapsed in on itself as the bureaucracy went through the process of allocating funds for the repairs.

“I am looking forward to this project to be over,” Demorest Mayor Jerry Harkness. “Sue Anne Decker from the DOT has been very helpful, and I am sure she is ready to get this project wrapped up.”

When the work begins, travel lanes on Central Avenue in that area will be 10 feet wide, and the existing turn lane will be reduced in length, the city said in a release.

“Based on the limited work area, Vertical Earth will have to close one lane and flag traffic on days they are actively working from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.,” the release from Demorest City Manager Mark Musselwhite said. “This will allow for their dump trucks and heavy equipment to have enough space to operate safely.”

Deborah Showalter and her family own two homes above the wall and have dealt with hardships since the initial damage three years ago.

“I am disgusted how long it has taken to do this,” Showalter said. “It is dangerous to the public, it’s dangerous to the homeowners and it needs to get going. I am very concerned about the safety of it.”

Showalter said they have seen damage to their yard, temporary telephone poles put in front of their home and a 100-year-old oak tree taken down because of the three-year odyssey.

“Every time it rains, we lose property downtown,” she said.