MEMPHIS, Tenn — Sunday, a Memphis neighborhood celebrated a birthday for a pothole on Dee Road, complete with balloons and other decorations.
The morning after ABC24 aired the story, the city sent someone out, who tossed the decorations aside and covered the pothole, which they are calling a street cavity, with a metal slab.
Drivers in the White Station neighborhood said they’ve had to contend with the dangerous pothole for nearly one year.
“Several people have hit it,” said resident Liam Haggerty, who lives right next to the hole. “I was out there one day, and I saw somebody come by and they didn't see it, because it was unmarked, and they hit it.”
But driving around the crater near Dee and Wilmore Road creates another safety hazard.
“You have to go to the left of the right,” said neighbor Dave Williams. “If you go to the left, oncoming traffic could hit you. So it's a danger, yeah.”
Even covered up, the pothole remains a safety hazard. After multiple drivers hit it, the neighborhood took matters into their own hands.
“I came back and got a can of red spray paint and I painted a circle around it so people can see it,” Haggerty said. “Shortly after that, one of the neighbors put a cone out there. About a day later somebody put a stick out there and American flag, and then the city put a couple of barriers out there.”
That led to the tradition of decorating it for the season. The city of Memphis said it has made several repairs to the pothole since July but discovered it was a more serious street cavity that is sewer related.
“I think they tried to do the quick fixes, and they were hoping it was just a pothole, and they hoped that if they just threw a little asphalt in it, that that would take care of the problem,” Williams said.
Haggerty said he is frustrated it took ABC24’s coverage to get the city to take any action.
“The city hasn’t done anything,” he said. “They've stopped by several times, and they just look at it and then they go on. And it took ABC24 to run a story on it to get them to come out and do a temporary fix."
The city said repairs are scheduled for Tuesday.
“They should have fixed it correctly the first time and been done with it,” Haggerty said.
When asked why fixing the street cavity is taking so long, the city told ABC24 the Environmental Maintenance Department is responsible for over 3,000 miles of sewer lines, and this is a process that normally takes weeks or months.