Demanding Answers: Forest Hills Residents Say It's Taken Weeks To Get Roads Re-Paved
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Residents in Forest Hills, Queens are fed up with their unpaved streets. They said the pavement was taken out weeks ago for utility repairs, but who's responsible for paving?
With bumps, pebbles, and sidewalk ledges about two extra inches deep, street milling can wear on your patience and your wheels.
"I can't even get the car out of the driveway without damaging it," one driver said.
"You're going down here about 8 miles an hour, and it's all the roads," Diane Gorsky added.
Typically these situations lead to fresh pavement within days, but in Forests Hills around 67th Ave it's been weeks.
"I would say about a month and a half," Gio Soni said.
Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg blamed utility companies. She said the city tries to coordinate for all roadwork to be done at once.
"It's supposed to be about two to three weeks, but when there's utility work that needs to be done, and that's the case with three streets in Forest Hills, it might be longer," Trottenberg said.
These conditions can have dangerous consequences.
In April a 3-year-old girl was hit and killed by a truck on Bruckner Boulevard -- which at the time was milled. The driver told police he was swerving to avoid a raised manhole cover.
"when we mill the streets we take asphalt and that's the case on Bruckner -- and create a hill surface so a car can drive over the manholes," Trottenberg said.
A CBS2 news team found that was the case for some, but not every obstacle. Even worse, residents say utilities haven't even been on site.
On Tuesday morning, DOT crews started paving 68th road -- they got going at around 11 a.m., some 30 minutes after being contacted by CBS2. The commissioner said the rest will be paved by the end of the week.