PC Highway Dept. fixes Keightly Road

A newly patched surface has taken the place of the large potholes that previously marred Keightly Road on the south side of Greencastle. (Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN)

The gaping chuckholes in Keightly Road are now gone.

Fixing the section of the road just south of the Putnam County Jail was delayed by confusion over who owns the road or if it's technically a road at all.

Either way, workers from the Putnam County Highway Department recently patched the road with a mixture of rock and oil last week. The mixture was then capped with rock.

County Highway Supervisor Mike Ricketts explained that the process is similar to chipping and sealing a road.

To the passing motorist, the patch job may look like gravel spread on the road, but the work is indeed sealed, providing a more permanent fix.

The condition of the road was discussed at a pair of recent Putnam County Commissioners meetings.

Upon discovering the road is not platted as such and is instead essentially a private driveway used by the public as a thoroughfare, from U.S. 231 to Cemetery Road, county officials stopped to consider their next move.

In the end, concerns over the safety of the road apparently won out.

The depth and width of some of the holes had essentially turned Keightly into a one-lane road in some spots, with drivers having to choose between bottoming out their vehicles or stopping for an oncoming driver.