Ironton city workers are taking down the Storms Creek floodgate today.

Street superintendent Mike Pemberton said workers planned to start taking down the structure around 7:30 or 8 a.m.

The process of taking the gate down takes a team of six to eight people between six and eight hours, he said.

Pemberton said the gate did what it was supposed to — it held back the water from Storms Creek.

The gate went up Thursday afternoon.

Ironton City Schools canceled classes while the gate was up Friday through today. Superintendent Dean Nance said he was concerned that bus drivers and parents would have had to take the McPherson Street route to get to school. Taking the street would have required drivers to cross U.S. Route 52 to reach the middle and elementary schools.

“I felt it was too dangerous not having 52 narrowed down to one lane and I really feel that it should have a right turn only out of Green Valley,” Nance said.

Another concern was the railroad crossing. Though police officers guarded the otherwise unguarded crossing, Nance said he was worried about parents and buses crossing it. He added that the police do a great job.

In the past, the district has had school while the floodgate is up. Too often, traffic gets backed up as vehicles are going in and out and vehicles end up being stuck in traffic on the railroad, Nance said.

With three more used calamity days, the students will have to make up two of the school days during their spring break, which was scheduled for March 28 and will now begin March 30.

“(The water is) receding now so we’re very, very hopeful that school will be in session Wednesday,” Nance said. “Going to school one or two days spring break is well worth it if it keeps one person from getting hit on the train track.”