PINK HILL – Jimmy Lee Road near the Duplin-Lenoir county line is closed after a sinkhole formed over a deteriorating drainage pipe.
A maintenance unit for the N.C. Department of Transportation is assessing whether the damaged culvert underneath the roadway can be repaired. Until then, drivers should use Burncoat, Maxwell Mill and Seth Turner roads as an alternate route.
The damaged culvert is one of three, each six feet in diameter, at this location. The department intends to replace the trio of aging culverts. Because it could take several months to schedule and fund this type of work, the department is evaluating whether the road can be safely reopened with temporary repairs.
The road is estimated to reopen by March 11, but that is subject to change.