CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When neighbors in one East Charlotte community needed help, no one would listen. They called city officials, begged for help, and asked for a much-needed repair, but nothing happened until they called NewsChannel 36.
In a matter of days, the sidewalk on Central Drive buckled, caved in and threatened to create a sinkhole in the street.
The broken sidewalk is right outside the home of Matt Rowell. For days, he has been sounding an alarm, but he says that nobody will help.
“It is like fighting bureaucracy,” Rowell told us. “I’ve called all six numbers on the Streets and Maintenance page {of the city website}. Every time I get a voicemail. I’ve emailed all of those people and I’ve yet to hear anything.”
Rowell called NewsChannel 36 out of frustration. Then he called city officials and told them that we were coming to inspect the crack.
By the time we arrived, city maintenance crews were on the scene. About an hour later, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities also sent out a worker to inspect the problem.
Rowell told NewsChannel 36 it is frustrating that “the little guy” can’t get help.
“I have that it comes down to ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ But it is broke and we need it fixed,” he said.
Others in the neighborhood are skeptical – even now – that city crews will make the repairs.
“I’m sure they are going to try to patch this rather than fix the main issue,” said John Russell, who lives across the street from the sidewalk crack.
A creek flows right underneath the road, and the area often floods, according to Russell. He has been trying to get city officials to pay attention for more than a decade.
The street maintenance worker who inspected the sidewalk told NewsChannel 36 that there is clearly a problem, but he called Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities crews to fix it.
When CMU arrived, a worker put in the orders for a fix, but did not make any repairs. Moreover, the worker told neighbors and NewsChannel 36 that the real problem needs to be fixed by storm water crews.
In effect, street maintenance blames CMU, and CMU blames the storm water team. The blame game infuriates those in the community.
“It’s so frustrating,” Russell said. “Knowing that I pay the high taxes that I do in Mecklenburg County and no one bothers to come out or do anything.”
NewsChannel 36 is committed to exposing problems and getting answers. If you have a problem you’d like us to look into, contact the I-Team at 704-329-3743.
