SIERRA VISTA — It seems no matter what the residents of High Knoll Road try to do to get help to fix their road through a deep wash, they hit a brick wall.

According to resident Neal Galt, volunteer spokesman for the community, back in the 1980s when the land off Highway 90 east of Sierra Vista began development, purchasers bought their little slices of heaven without knowing that the one-way-in, one-way-out road was not an official county-maintained road. Though deeds and plats indicate the developer dedicated a 50-foot right of way to the public in 1986, the county never adopted the road.

The developer, whose name was not known by Galt, had constructed a one-foot-thick concrete bridge over the vast wash that funnels floodwater to the San Pedro River.

“We didn’t have any problems with it for all this time. We knew that when it rained we could wait until the floodwaters subsided, and then we could cross,” said Galt, who has lived off High Knoll for 10 years.

On Sunday Neal Galt, left, and “Butch” Galt look at the slabs of concrete that until the summer rains of last year provided a crossing of a wide wash on High Knoll Road. At times, the condition of the road, during or after rains, has left residents of the area north of the wash stranded. (Vera Davis•Herald/Review)

But, last year the concrete bridge over the wash failed, destroyed by massive flooding that broke the one-foot thick concrete into pieces. The 60 or so people living on the north side of the wash were trapped for two days. Families who needed groceries or prescriptions and residents who needed to get to work were stuck. Finally, the water subsided enough for people to take their chances and ford the dangerous wash, just a matter of feet upstream of the destroyed concrete bridge, by foot or by four-wheel drive. Friends and relatives met them on the other side to carry them where they needed to go.

“There was no way in and no way out for us or emergency services,” added Galt. “We were lucky that no one needed the fire department or an ambulance. They probably would not have made it through the flood.”

Later as floodwaters subsided, grading contractor Young Block worked to build a makeshift road through the muck, mud and sand.

Since then Galt and other residents have been trying to get some help. They have gone to the county supervisors and highway department. No luck there since the county didn’t adopt the dedicated roadway because it was not up to county standards.

“They told me it would cost $1 million per mile,” added Galt. “How can 60 families afford millions of dollars?”

“Pat Call, one of the supervisors, has been of great assistance to us and has put me in touch with many people,” said Galt.

Call, who represents District 1 which does not include High Knoll, offered help in the form of a road maintenance district, explained Galt. Under that designation, the county can help secure bonds for a loan to fix the bridge through a partnership. The residents would be assessed a share per property owner to pay back the loan over 20 years. However, it still would remain a private road without county maintenance. Until engineering studies are done, the cost of building a bridge over the wash, instead of through it, would remain unknown. Again, all this would be at the expense of the residents.

Believing such an improvement would be too costly, the community began looking into other avenues for help.

It bothers Galt that other county residents say they don’t want their tax money used for private roads.

To that Galt says, “I’ll bet I pay more gas tax than anyone living in Sierra Vista. All of us out here probably spend more getting around than Sierra Vistans. So, we pay more gas tax for no maintenance on our road ... where’s the fairness in that?” he asked. “I guess some people think that the average home has a heliport and we’re all just wealthy,” he joked in response to a comment that helicopters could land to handle extreme emergencies.”

The community approached the Bureau of Land Management to get permission to construct a detour around the wash on government land through the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area that would include the use of an old railroad bridge crossing the wash farther downstream.

In a letter, BLM Tucson Field Manager Brian Bellew, said that idea was shot down since the proposed emergency access road did not involve protecting the environment and the wildlife. Also, BLM fears the emergency road, even though it would be gated, locked and only used during emergencies and during heavy flooding when High Knoll could not be used, would encourage additional, unwanted foot and off-road vehicle traffic, thus disturbing the wildlife the riparian area was to protect.

Galt said there has never been a problem with off-road vehicles or foot traffic in the area. Friends of the San Pedro do provide tours and hikes through the conservation area, but none come onto the High Knoll area.

“Obviously, I over-estimated the value of human life to this branch of the government that should be ‘of the people, by the people, for the people,’ in my humble opinion. I fear that this decision will only be revisited at a later time when someone has died because emergency assistance and vehicles could not reach them due to flooding and lack of an emergency road,” said Galt. “And it will show a lack of wisdom if someone dies.”

There’s another confusing issue. Bellew states that High Knoll is an unauthorized access road across BLM property. And there may be a swath of acreage that does in fact cross the existing High Knoll Road, Galt suggests.

But, it seems hard to understand why a dirt road serving a community for the past 22 years has never been called into question by the BLM until now.

Galt explained that the BLM has a 10-year contract with Young Block to maintain the road so the contractor can mine sand from the washes.

“How can they say there’s no right-of-way or ask us to cease maintaining this unauthorized access road when they have this contract,” asked Galt.

BLM states to get the necessary right-of-way for the use of the road, the residents would have to make application for the right-of-way, conduct an environmental analysis for the entire road, obtain permits from the Army Corps of Engineers for the development of a low water crossing, prepare a road design that meets BLM and county road standards, create a road plan for development and the formation of a road association formed by the landowners. All this would be paid for by the residents.

Another option currently under investigation by the residents and in particular Michael Spitz, is to buy a pre-formed, 49-ton weight limit, one-lane Bailey bridge and get it installed over the wash. The bridge was estimated to cost around $130,000, but that does not include installation, said Galt.

“We haven’t been able to find someone who can install it, yet. But, even if it cost another $130,000, that figure is something we could deal with over 20 years,” he added. “It comes down to what we can get done at the lowest cost.”

This year, High Knoll residents have been lucky. The flow through the wash hasn’t been that bad, with only a day or two of difficult travel. As a precaution, High Knoll residents are driving down to the wash and parking one car; then crossing the wash on foot to get in a second car on the other side.

As of Sunday morning, the temporary road was passable. However, the question remains — When will the rains come again that create raging floodwaters making all access impossible?

Herald/Review reporter Shar Porier can be reached at 515-4692 or by e-mail at shar.porier@bisbeereview.net.