Washed out Kannat Tabla road leaves many residents helpless

The Department Public Works worked through Saturday and Sunday to make the main road in Kannat Tabla passable after torrential rains from Typhoon Champi washed out dirt and exposed cracks and water pipes that blocked residents from leaving.

The office of Rep. Lorenzo Guerrero and DPW were able to provide the necessary materials for backfilling to make the roads passable for residents, Saipan Tribune learned yesterday.

Left, crater-like potholes were left along Kannat Tabla Drive after heavy runoff washed off the road during Tropical Storm Champi. Right, Kannat Tabla resident Maria Dizon steps down to one of the huge cracks in the road. (Contributed Photo)

Public Works Secretary James Ada said they dispatched a grader and compactor to fix the road on Saturday.

Guerrero, who was at the site on both days, estimated that about 238 cubic yards of crushed coral were used for backfilling.

“Roughly, it wasn’t enough to repair the entire length of the road,” Guerrero said. “But it was ample enough to fill in all the cracks, the areas that were impassable.”

Ada separately estimated they needed 20 to 25 loads of a 10-cubit-yard dump truck to cover the entire length of the road, which was about a mile or mile-and-a-half long.

The road in Kannat Tabla, technically called Kannat Tabla Drive, is an unpaved road that has always been subject to severe erosion during heavy downpours.

“It was not a road when I saw it Saturday,” Ada told Saipan Tribune in an interview at his office yesterday. “It’s hard, I feel sorry for the people.”

He said Public Works was still on site yesterday and they hope to fix the road by today.

“We are leveling, coralizing it, and at the same time grading it and using the compactor to make it firm. We are going to fix those laterals. We are not going to get out of there ’til we are done with all those laterals [the roads that lead into residences],” he said.

Maria Dizon, who has been living in Kannat Tabla for about a year and a half now, says the road has always been a problem for all those who live there, as it is filled with potholes that cause great discomfort to drivers and passengers alike.

“When it rains, the roads became eroded due to flowing water. [Public] school buses would juggle up and down because of the rough road,” she said.

The road sustained heavy damage when Typhoon Soudelor hit Saipan in August. Although the potholes were covered up and smoothed over, this proved to be a temporary solution when Typhoon Champi—at the time a tropical storm—hit last week.

“This is was the worst experience so far because the roads looked like it crumbled away,” Dizon told Saipan Tribune. “The water pipes were exposed and broken. Cars also became stuck because the road did not seem like a road, but more like ditches spaced apart. Many residents were stranded and had to walk to the main road if they needed to go somewhere.”

“Bottom-line, the road needs to be fixed,” Guerrero said. “[It] needs to be paved but it has to come along with a drainage system. We need a drainage system.”

Federal funds could be tapped to fix the road. Guerrero said Public Works could request the U.S. Department of Transportation to reclassify the road to avail of federal funding for pavement, drainage, and maintenance.

As the road connects to Route 31—a federally funded road—he said this factor might support reclassification.

Guerrero urges that the road be included in the Public Works’ Road Master Plan in the next couple of years. He said it is “prime time to start the process,” referring to the engineering and contracting aspect of the work.

Dizon is just thankful to all the people who came to their aid and tried to fix the damaged road as soon as possible. “Instead of filling up the gaps every time it rains, I hope we can come up with a permanent solution to ensure our safety,” she said.