DETROIT (WXYZ) — A Detroit woman says the alley behind her Seneca Street home on the city's east side has become a dangerous mess — filled with overgrown brush, fallen trees and downed fencing.
Vionca Ruffin has lived on Seneca Street on Detroit's east side for nearly a decade. She says for at least the past year, the alley behind her home has been overrun with weeds, debris and fallen trees.
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"What do we have back here? Overgrown brush, weeds and fallen trees that have destroyed the fence," Ruffin said.
Thick weeds and ivy are now overtaking communication lines, while the alley itself has become so clogged with brush and debris that utility crews struggle to get through.
"It's so overgrown it's coming over the fence," Ruffin said. "They can't get their trucks through, so they're forced to bring the tallest ladder they have and try to resolve it from here."
A utility worker's ladder gave way during one attempt to access the lines.
"His ladder — he ended up falling here, right in this brush," Ruffin said.
Ruffin says the alley is more than just an eyesore — it's become a serious safety hazard.
"There's children coming through here, which is dangerous. It could be wires, animals — it could be anything back here. I don't even know what's back here," Ruffin said.
The city no longer maintains alleys as a cost-saving measure, shifting responsibility to adjacent property owners.
From 2020 through 2025, the City of Detroit used American Rescue Plan Act — or ARPA — funding to clean up neighborhood alleys in an effort to combat blight, reduce illegal dumping and improve quality of life. Working alongside neighborhood block clubs, the city says it cleaned more than 3,000 alleys and removed more than 90 tons of overgrowth and debris — including 16 tons in Ruffin's neighborhood back in 2020.
Residents in that area were notified after the initial cleanup that they would be responsible for ongoing maintenance.
With funding for that program now expired, the Department of Neighborhoods says it is stepping in to help through its Motor City Makeover 365 program, alongside neighboring block clubs.
"We have opportunities to help neighborhood groups, so we partner with associations in this area that you're talking about today. There's the Pingree Park Association, plus a couple of other nearby block clubs. Through our Motor City Makeover 365 program, we'll bring resources and volunteers to help neighbors clean up the alley, and then our General Services Department and DPW crews will come in and haul away the debris," Director of the City of Detroit's Department Neighborhoods, Bryan Peckinpaugh said.
The city's General Services Department encourages residents to participate in community programs like Motor City Makeover or organize cleanups with their neighborhood block clubs and organizations.
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