Handful Of Cars Damaged By Parkway East Potholes
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A handful of drivers suffered flat tires Thursday morning after hitting a giant hole on the Parkway East.
An inconvenience, yes, and an expensive one at that. PennDOT says the contractor responsible will take care of it.
It claimed its victims one after another – a giant hole on the Parkway East inbound, in the Bathtub area near the Grant Street exit.
PennDOT says crews were out Wednesday night doing prep work for concrete patching, but the cold patch they used to fill the road surface failed, leaving a gaping hole.
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Molly Sandberg of Monroeville was on her way to work when she hit it. It shredded two of her tires.
"Being from Pittsburgh, you can hit a pothole and be like, 'oh, I'm fine,' but it literally felt like I was falling into a hole, then I felt my whole passenger side go out, and my tire light came on immediately," she said.
And she had plenty of company. Robin Hammonds and her best friend Noel Tabacjar were on their way to the airport.
"I couldn't avoid it because I couldn't go over into the other lane, people were over there," Hammonds said, "and I hit it and both of my tires went out on the passenger side."
"There was nothing we could do, and thank God there was a place for us to pull over," Tabacjar said.
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The hole in Cherron Fields' tire was so big, he called his father right away. His father then called AAA.
"I can put my finger inside my tire. This is ridiculous," Fields said. "I don't want to pay for this, and I'm thinking a lot of people who busted their tires are feeling the same way."
PennDOT says if your car was damaged Thursday morning, you can call them to file a claim.
"We're still investigating the situation, but there's a good possibility you'll be filing a claim with the contractor," Steve Cowan with PennDOT District 11 said.
PennDOT has since re-filled the hole and monitored it throughout the day. The contractor was also out to make sure there were no more issues.
It was all too much for Daniel Perkins, whose car was damaged.
"I think my day's done. I think I'm tired," Perkins said. "I think I'm going to go home and go to bed."