PARMA, Ohio — There's been a massive construction project along Sprague Road that touches four different cities. As it’s starting to wrap up, some residents said they have concerns about the work.
“This stuff, whatever it is, just comes right out,” said Tony Pavia in a recent video he recorded as he pulled up concrete chips. He lives on West Sprague Road in Parma.
A $20-plus million construction project that’s lasted about three years redid the street, sewer and water lines. Now, near the end of the project, Pavia has put together a series of videos and posted them to YouTube, hoping to move the final issues along.
“This is an apron that was poured. As you can see, there’s a step right there,” said Pavia in one of his clips.
“I’ve got a problem, and I’m documenting it. And at that point, I documented things going forward,” he told us.
He’s shown cracks in the sidewalks, sealant coming up, and even interviewed unhappy neighbors with sewer back-ups.
“Some are frustrated, maybe they don’t know how to reach out to the authorities,” Pavia told us. “I can tell you from experience it was challenging.”
Another problem neighbors are having is with the paint on the yellow lines in the road. There are various spots where big chunks are popping up.
“There are paint chips everywhere,” said Pavia. “I mean, it’s on people’s grass. It’s on the street,” he continued, showing us a pile of the chips he collected.
“Our staff put a lot of hard work into that project over the years,” said Tom Sotak, the chief deputy engineer for Cuyahoga County. He told us that he was happy with the project overall.
He’s also seen some of Pavia’s videos.
“You’re trying to fit these big jobs into a small space sometimes,” said Sotak. “Most of the time it works, sometimes you have a little odds and ends that are tough.”
He said with the sewer back-ups, those need to be taken care of.
“For anybody who experienced that out there, we’re deeply sorry.... Please accept our apology. And at the end of the day, it should work properly,” said Sotak.
He told us some areas can be tricky with the grading work necessary and concrete.
He also says he will check into the painting problems and other concerns homeowners have.
“Any items that are dealt with issues with workmanship or whatever, we want to make sure we take care of those for the residents,” said Sotak.
Until then, Pavia told us he’d keep an eye on the areas that need to be fixed.
“And your hope is that it’s done sooner than later?” we asked.
“I kind of wish it was already done to be honest, sir, and I also kind of wish that it wasn’t an issue,” he replied.
The county hired a construction company to do the work. We have reached out to that company and are waiting to hear back.
We will be following through to see if the county fixes the issues.
If you have a concern we should follow through on, please call our investigator tip line at 216-431-4357 or email us at InvestigatorTips@WEWS.com.
