'Please get it resolved': West Philadelphia residents urge city to fix street hole
PHILADELPHIA - Residents and drivers on the 1600 block of South Conestoga Street in West Philadelphia are dealing with a large hole in the road that is currently covered by a metal plate, according to neighbors who spoke with FOX 29.
Ongoing safety concerns about the growing hole
What we know:
The hole started small but has been slowly collapsing and getting bigger over the last few months, according to Karim Anderson, a concerned resident.
"It’s scary because I’m thinking one day my car, I might ride over it and it might just drop down, so it’s very scary," said Anderson.
Neighbors said they put cones in front of the hole to keep cars away, but after the city responded, a metal plate was placed over it.
"Just kept slowly collapsing, we put cones in front of it so people couldn’t ride over it but when the city came they did this, they put the plate there and the hole was small and this is how big the hole got…" said Anderson.
Residents have repeatedly contacted the city
What they're saying:
"We’ve been calling about this for months, and the keep saying you can’t keep putting in another ticket and this and that but what are we going to do nobody come out here and fix it so, this is what we got to deal with," said Durrell Hill, another concerned resident.
Neighbors told FOX 29 that as more vehicles, including trash trucks, drive over the plate, their concerns grow.
"The more these trash trucks come through the more weight come and I tell you this whole thing is going to come down," said Hill.
FOX 29 was present when a trash truck slowly drove over the plate covering the hole.
Residents said they worry it is only a matter of time before something serious happens.
People living in the area are urging the city to fix the problem before someone gets hurt.
"They need to come and fix it, they need to come and make it right…" one resident said. Another added, "Please get it resolved because any day now somebody’s car can sink the street then that’s damages and ya’ll not gunna pay for that…"
Neighbors also expressed frustration with the city’s response, saying, "I feel like that right there ya’ll should fix that, stop cheating because you waste more money that way, do it right the first time, and if ya’ll need help we have people that can help ya’ll."
What's next:
During the ‘FOX 29 News at 5’ crews from the city's street department arrived at the scene to hello make repairs.
What we don't know:
It is not clear how long it will take crews to make permanent repairs to the street.
The Source: Interviews with residents and on-scene reporting by FOX 29.