PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — Drivers on Auburn Avenue in Pontiac say raised manhole covers left exposed during road construction are creating dangerous conditions — and in many cases, costing them money.
Watch Jolie Sherman's video report:
The road is currently under construction and down to one lane as crews pave the stretch. Dozens of manhole covers are sticking up about an inch or more out of the road surface.
Gina Boykin, a Macomb resident, described the experience of driving on the road.
"It's like playing Russian roulette down the road," she says.
Boykin, who often comes to Pontiac weekly to see her family, says the sheer number of covers makes it nearly impossible to navigate safely. Fed up, she posted this video on social media to warn other drivers.
VIEWER VIDEO: Social media post from Gina Boykin of Auburn Avenue
"Some of them you can roll over, but when there's one here, one here, one here, how can you go over that safely?" she asks.
Auburn Hills resident Catherine Gedney said she damaged her car after hitting one of the covers. She said one snapped the internal belt inside her tire.
Online, one driver shared that she needs a new wheel. Another said he damaged his motorcycle, and a woman, who takes this route every morning, says, "It's like dodging land mines."
"Sometimes, if you ever hit a really hard pothole, a really deep pothole. It was almost worse than that, my whole car, it was like a jolt," says Gedney.
Gedney said the damage cost her nearly $300 to repair.
"I pulled over and my tire was kind of low and then by the time I got home, it was flat. I had to get two new tires for it."
Another Auburn Hills resident, Jen Henry, said she does not feel safe on the road.
"I feel like I'm going to have a blowout going over that. I don't feel safe going over it at all," Henry say.
Henry, who said she has worked in construction for over 20 years, suggested a temporary fix crews could use in the meantime.
"They could bring the asphalt right up to it until they do their second coat, which would create a sort of speed bump for cars to go over. Anything would be safer than this," she says.
Pontiac Mayor Mike McGuinness said the raised covers are not a hazard to drivers, particularly those traveling at the speed limit, and that the current road surface is part of the construction process.
"That inch plus that those are raised, that's the final surface level. And so we're, in the next few days, getting from the level coating to the wear coat, where it'll be that same flush surface," he says.
McGuinness acknowledged the inconvenience but said it comes with the territory of improving the city's infrastructure.
"We're going to have some of those growing pains; if we want quality infrastructure and smoother, passable roads, they will have to be under construction to get there," he says.
The mayor said crews will level the road by early next week. The project is expected to be fully completed by the end of June.
Boykin said residents should not have to accept unsafe conditions just because construction is underway.
"The citizens deserve to have safe roads to drive on, even during construction. The way they left the road during construction is unsafe," she says.
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