CLEVELAND — No matter who you ask, they probably have a story about crumbling roads and potholes in their neighborhoods.
Noelle Morovich said her ride home on April 1 came to a halt when a piece of concrete weighing about 30 pounds hit the undercarriage of her 2024 Toyota Corolla.
"I got it unexpectedly because my other car- the engine blew,” Morovich said.
She already has 10,000 miles on the car, which she uses for her small business, Paws In The Land.
"I need my car because I go to clients' homes and take care of their dogs [and] cats,” Morovich said. “We do dog training and pet sitting, so we need that.”
The incident happened on W. 187th Street off Puritas Avenue. Morovich’s camera, set up inside the car, caught the moment the piece of concrete struck. She said she initially thought she had hit a car.
"I turned around, came back and it [piece of concrete] was sitting something like this after it came back down after bouncing off the bottom of my car."
She’s now worried about other loose pieces of concrete causing issues for other drivers and pointed to patchwork along W. 187th Street.
“It's not a fix. It’s a patch,” Morovich said.
Daniel Walumis agrees.
“The street condition…how do you describe it,” News 5 asked him.
“Deplorable," Walumis responded. “You hear cars clunking up and down the street all night long."
He said giant trees in the tree lawn have long been the root of the neighborhood's road and other infrastructure issues.
“Bald-cypress is a very invasive species of tree that blocks the sewers,” Walumis said.
He said the city removed some trees and made sewer repairs. But he said road repairs haven’t been done up to par.
"If the patch work is done correctly it shouldn’t be a problem,” Walumis said.
Morovich took her problem to Councilman Charles Slife. She said the alignment in her car has changed.
“I’m not sure what else is going on,” Morovich said. “Unfortunately, Toyota couldn’t see me until the 11th.
Councilman Slife wrote her about how to file a damage claim with the city.
“They said, ' Oh, it goes to the law department. It's worth maybe trying to make a claim and seeing what happens, but most of the time, they don't side with you,' Morovich said.
Councilman Slife told her it was a “bit of a crapshoot” because one has to prove that the city knew about the pothole and neglected to address it.
Friday, Councilman Slife told News 5 that after he learned of Morovich’s situation, he contacted the city’s commissioner of streets and director of public works and was told their seasonal pothole program is fully underway.
Morovich wants the section of the road she encountered to be completely cut out and new concrete properly laid.
“It would be good if we can handle it in the next month City of Cleveland,” Morovich said. “That’s not asking for too much.”
The City of Cleveland said they paid out $12,048.27 in claims in 2023 and $3,926.28 so far in 2024.
It said, “We have received 16 service requests for potholes in this area (on Puritas Avenue between Rocky River Drive and Grayton Road) since 2022. All have been completed – an overwhelmingly majority of which were finished within a week.”
It added, “The issue in this story is new that was just brought to our attention today. We are sending personnel to the area to assess what work needs to be done, which will help determine our next steps. It’s important for residents to call 311 to report potholes – as it is difficult for us to address issues that are never brought to our attention. Our Public Works team also proactively goes out and fills potholes on residential streets every year when the weather consistently warms up. We expect to begin that work within the next couple of weeks.”
