"hanging metal, crumbling wood and twisted steel"

DENTON COUNTY — Fourteen bridges deemed unsafe are closed to drivers in Denton County.

Dozens of others are in need of repair or replacement.

For the frustrated North Texans who usually have easy access across those bridges, it is creating a huge problem that's taking too long to fix.

Heavy rains covered O.D. Neal Road for the fifth time in one month. It's the only way in and out of the neighborhood, leaving worried mom Jennifer Forsyth unable to pick up her two young daughters from daycare on the other side of Hickory Creek.

"What if there was an emergency at daycare?" she asked. "I couldn't get to my kids."

The O.D. Neal bridge was closed two years ago. Like 13 other bridges in Denton County, it was deemed to be structurally unsafe and shut down by the Texas Department of Transportation

"What has to happen before they actually feel it's important to move through and get it done?" Forsyth asked.

Larry Rios usually drives a few hundred yards across the Freeman Road bridge to travel to Krum. But what was once a simple trek is now a difficult and dusty trip down a gravel road.

Eight long years after Denton County started work to replace the old dilapidated bridge, Texas Department of Transportation inspectors finally closed it.

"We drive 10 extra miles a day, five each way," Rios said. "With the price of gas, that's a lot more money we didn't budget for to go into town every day."

Homeowners can't understand why it's taking years to replace the bridges.

Some of the condemned spans have hanging metal, crumbling wood and twisted steel.