After hours of testimony Thursday morning the Christian County Commission voted unanimously to deny a petition to close part of Holder Road in rural Christian County.
Residents with property along Holder, between ZZ and N in western Christian County had submitted a petition in March for the county to vacate its right of way on the road and revert the road to private property. In testimony Thursday morning they claimed increased traffic on the road over the last decades had infringed on their rights to enjoy and make use of their property and made it unsafe.
Per state statute petitioners were responsible for making the case that the road is “useless”. They argued that other roads, like State Highway ZZ are designed to accommodate heavy traffic, with only a minor increase in drive-time. They said the use of Holder was a matter of convenience and not necessity and equated it to being practically useless given its size and other options.
Those opposed to the closure submitted a remonstrance to the initial petition. In testimony today they said the closure would negatively impact real estate prices, agricultural activity and emergency response times.
Expert witnesses called by the Christian County Commission included Christian County Sheriff Brad Cole and Nixa Fire Chief Lloyd Walles who both opposed the closure on the grounds that would impact their ability to respond to incidents.
Many speakers on both sides agreed that the road needs improvements to better serve the nearly 2,000 drivers it sees daily. Those improvements are complicated by the need for easements to do any expansion of the road, but Christian County Highway Administrator Miranda Beadles detailed several improvements that had previously been scheduled for Holder Road this year, including fresh paint and plans for a FEMA grant to help address issues at a low point prone to flooding on the road.
In the end the Christian County Commission did not feel that petitioners successfully made their case that the road is “practically useless,” and denied the petition to vacate.