FOX 8 Defenders: Massive pothole causing headaches for drivers

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A persistent pothole problem is drawing the ire of people in the Carrollton neighborhood. It’s forced one nearby driver to rent a car every day to avoid damaging hers.

Now, the Fox 8 Defenders are getting involved.

People say the pothole at the corner of Carrollton and Cohn, big enough to stand in, is frustrating and annoying.

“It’s ridiculous. This is a danger,” Charles Kunz says.

“We make jokes about it. That’s all you can do,” Rebecca Vahey said.

“I’ve been kind of afraid to drive in that central area for quite some time I try to just drive on either side but for someone with a bigger car or truck, yeah, not so good,” Holly MacKenna adds.

Neighbors tell FOX 8 that this problem spot first opened up during the pandemic and while the city initially came out to repair it, it didn’t last.

“Whatever they did the first time did not fully address it because as you see it kinda reappeared,” MacKenna said.

“It comes and goes, comes and goes, I don’t think it’s ever properly been fixed,” Kunz commented.

Vahey says she’s so weary of the spot, a little over five feet wide and almost three feet deep, that she avoids driving her own car near it.

“I rent a car. I would be furious if I messed up my car in this city,” Vahey said.

So many people tell us they’ve reached out to the city, time and again with little results. So we started making calls. Just one day after inquiring about the trouble spot, Charles Kunz saw a worker inspecting the hole.

“He said that he came out to investigate what is going on, apparently he’s involved with the Sewerage and Water Board and that it was reported to him that there was this pothole or sinkhole or whatever you want to call it and that’s why he came out,” Kunz said.

They’re hopeful for a permanent solution, not another quick fix before someone gets seriously hurt.

A city spokesperson tells us that in January of 2021, Sewerage and Water Board crews made a cut in the ground at the intersection to repair a broken water main. The city is now in the process of reaching out to a Department of Public Works contractor to address the situation and the massive hole left behind.

If you’ve got a consumer issue you’d like us to look into, call the Fox 8 Defenders hotline (1-877-670-6397) staffed by volunteers from the National Council of Jewish Women, or fill out our online complaint form. That’s the easiest way to reach us.

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