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Road remains unfixed after 2 decades of requests to city

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis man is at a dead end when it comes to trying to get the road outside his west side house fixed.

He said the road’s condition is such an issue that he’s been putting in reports to the city for more than two decades now.

He has been promised before that his road would get fixed but, based on plans of the Indianapolis Department of Public Works, it is not looking like a fix is going to happen soon.

“I have called the mayor’s office for the last 25 years, twice a year, three times a year, and I get the same answer: ‘Well, you are on the list to be fixed.’ Never have gotten to the top of the list,” said homeowner Travis Yates. 

INDY.GOV: Report potholes on city streets

Yates is tired of asking for the giant potholes outside his house in the 9100 block of West Raymond Street to be filled. “I couldn’t get nobody to do it. So, I bought gravel in myself, paid for it, and I got a tractor and I grated. That is what took care of it.”

The block is northeast of the interchange of Interstate 465 and Sam Jones Expressway. 

After doing the work himself on multiple occasions, Yates said, he is fed up, “frustrated, it’s beyond that. 

“I am just to the point where if I could sell out, I’d move, but I can’t get nothing out of this place.”

The Department of Public Works said it has an open pothole request for West Raymond Street and that it had two requests in March 2018 for which it sent out a surveyor. 

But, what started as an inconvenience, Yates said, is now a concern about property values. “Would you come down this road and buy my house? Think about that, you know.”

It has also become a safety concern. The deteriorated road now drops dangerously into a retention pond, something else Yates has asked the city to address.

“That pipe, if it gets the least bit wet, is as slick as ice,” Yates said. “I don’t want to see a child lose his life here or get hurt.” 

In a statement to News 8, the Department of Public Works said in part:

“The area in question is not on our 2019 resurfacing list. DPW project lists are put together well in advance, and our engineering team keeps an updated assessment of each street in Indianapolis to help inform future project lists. For this stretch of road, an inspector did go out and take note of the condition of the road after the resident initially reported a request for resurfacing so it is something we are aware of.”

“Our tax dollars ain’t working here. Not very well,” Yates said.