Scotts Valley residents welcome rain despite Nelson Road construction

There is wet weather in the forecast, many are wondering if too much all at once could bring trouble. On Friday night, NewsChannel 5 found out construction progress on a road destroyed a couple of years ago may get a setback.

Some residents living near the construction on Nelson Road said they’ve been waiting about three and a half years for it to be open again. But since they’ve gotten used to the detour, they’d rather see the rain, than have the work done on time.

Joy and Tom Williams were eyewitnesses to a landslide in March 2011, when the entire hillside came down just a few feet from their home.

“A neighbor came down with chainsaws and so forth to try to remove the tree and some people from the county came up and said don’t do that get out of the way,” Williams said.

The landslide was a terrifying sight for more than two dozen residents who’ve been faced with detour signs for quite some time.

“We all started running and you know it didn’t take very long and it stopped and then we looked and the whole road was covered,” Williams said.

Santa Cruz County Public Works and a contracting company are working to fix the road, weather permitting. The plan is to have it back open on Dec. 19. The Williams said they regularly talk with the contractor who claims that date may be just an estimate.

“The county has out this detour road through our property so we’ve had, I mean that’s the only way the people up the road have any access,” Williams said.

But the Williams said some good has come out of the mess. Now they know more of their neighbors, creating a better sense of community. The rain they said is just another small bump in the road.

“It’s more important than our own personal concerns. California needs it badly,” Williams said.

NewsChannel 5 has calls into Santa Cruz County Public Works to get an update on the project.