Road conditions have forced Warren County officials to close Eagle Lake Shore Road at Tara Wildlife Refuge.

Warren County Emergency Management director John Elfer said the section of the road that meets the levee by Tara was closed temporarily because of problems with the road surface.

“There’s some holes right there, and the material they (the county road department) put in it didn’t sit up correctly, so we’ve got to let it dry out a couple of days before we can get it open again, so people are going to have to take the long way around,” he said.

He said the damage includes potholes and ruts.

“If we left it open, by 7 p.m. (Tuesday) it probably wouldn’t be passable at all,” Elfer said. “It’s a temporary thing until we can get a better fix for it. I know it’s an inconvenience, but it couldn’t be helped.”

He said people going to Eagle Lake can go one of two ways; go to Mississippi 1 and come in from the north, or come in from the south on the backwater levee and go past Tara to where it connects with Mississippi 465.

The present level of the Yazoo Backwater Tuesday was 96.25 feet. The Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District Tuesday reopened the gates at the Steele Bayou Control Structure.