STAFFORD — School buses are expected to roll again on Tuesday, but not down this street.
This past weekend’s heavy rains caused a small landslide, also called a “slope failure,” on Bells Hill Road in Stafford County. A fissure formed in the road as soil on the embankment below slid down into the waters of the Austin Run.
Rain-filled skies made way or abundant sunshine on Monday, but Bells Hill Road was one of a handful of streets in the county damaged or underwater. In addition, the usual suspects — River and Harrell roads in Falmouth, and Kellogg Mill Road over the Abel Lake Reservoir were all under water and closed to traffic after the heavy rains.
Schools were closed on Tuesday in Stafford so school buses wouldn’t have to roll through the mess, and drivers wouldn’t encounter closed streets.
On Bells Hill, drivers who wanted to use the street to reach their homes were turned around at Virginia Belle Drive, while signs posted on the adjacent Route 1 south warned of the road’s closure.
A team from Stafford County Public Schools arrived at the fissure about 1 o’clock Monday afternoon and began taking photos.
“We’re just trying to figure out what we’re going to do with the buses,” said a woman who stepped out of a car with the school division’s logo on the passenger side door.
Schools spokeswoman Sherrie Johnson said they did figure out how school buses could get around the closure but offers no specifics.
“The Transportation Office with Stafford County Public Schools has come up with alternate routes to ensure students arrive at school safely. It may take a few minutes longer, but we have a plan in place,” stated Johnson in an email.
While schools officials came up with a plan to get buses around the cracked surface, Virginia Department of Transportation crews was on the scene assessing the damage.
VDOT spokeswoman Kelly Hannon said repairs could take at least a week, maybe longer.
Locally, about seven or more inches of rain fell on Stafford County over the weekend.
