RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT) - Four times in the past two years, mud from a hillside has washed down onto Tates Creek Road in Madison County.

"At a certain point, the hillside says, 'I can't hold any more! I don't have enough strength to hold this! I'm letting go!' said Madison County Emergency Management director Carl Richards.

Road crews have cleared the road from the most recent slide, but they say it's just a matter of time before it happens again.

"You can look at it and say, 'I don't think that's going to last very long,'," said Richards.

Emergency management officials are concerned the slide could cut people off from help if they ever need it.

"For responders and things like that, that's a big fear. Do we need law enforcement out there? Do we need EMS out there? Do you need fire out there? You want them to be able to get them out there as quickly as possible if it's your loved one or your home," said Richards.

Richards said, thankfully, there haven't been cars going by when the slides have happened, but they say the next time, they might not be so lucky.

"That's a heavily traveled road. It's got all types of traffic on it. It's one of the main conduits for people using the ferry. It's a busy, busy roadway. Whether that happens when a bus is going by or a van with a family in it, you don't know. There's no way of predicting it," said Richards.

Richards said the county doesn't have the authority to do anything to the hillside because it's on private land. He hopes someone can step in to fix the problem.

"It needs some significant efforts made to stabilize it once and for all, permanently," he said.

People who live in the area said there are alternate routes when the slides happen, but they add significant delays.