SALISBURY, MD - After being closed for several days due to flooding, a critical part of Route 13 in Salisbury has reopened, according to state and local officials. The State Highway Administration says the closure, which had significant impacts on local traffic and businesses, was caused by water backing up from blocked culverts on Delmarva Central Railroad's property near the Peggy Branch of the Wicomico River.
Salisbury Mayor Randy Taylor, confirmed that the railroad company had been actively working to pump out the culverts over the last several days, allowing for the road to finally be cleared for traffic.
Danny Winn at Acme Ceramic Tile says the prolonged closure has hurt his bottom line. "We're one of many businesses here that are being impacted by this event."
Mayor Taylor pointed out that the blocked culverts, which had not been cleaned out for several years, were the primary cause of the flooding. The city plans to continue its collaboration with Delmarva Central Railroad and other stakeholders to prevent future incidents. "They'll have those cleared out hopefully by the end of the day tomorrow," Taylor stated.
This marks the second time in a little more than two months that this section of Route 13 had to be closed due to floodwaters, impacting a wide range of businesses from pizza delivery services to insurance agencies. Emily Nock of Nock Insurance described the situation as "crazy." She said "we have to try to direct people how to get here on backroads, there's no clear detour signs marked anywhere so that's been pretty interesting."
Some side streets like Priscilla Street remained closed to through traffic even after Route 13 reopened.
