Hamtramck residents decide to fill potholes themselves
At a Hamtramck dive bar on Thursday night, a group of friends complained to each other that they were fed up with the city's potholes.
Hamtramck residents decide to fill potholes themselves At a Hamtramck dive bar on Thursday night, a group of friends complained to each other that they were fed up with the city's potholes. Check out this story on Freep.com: http://on.freep.com/1Sa1pS9
Daniel Bethencourt, Detroit Free Press Published 9:05 p.m. ET July 27, 2015 | Updated 10:58 p.m. ET July 27, 2015
Jason Cockram points to a pothole that he and his friends patched themselves on Lumpkin St, in Hamtramck on Monday, July 27,2015.(Photo: Daniel Bethencourt, Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo
The frustration could have ended there. But the friends took matters into their own hands.
They started to fill the holes themselves, and almost immediately became the focus of a surge of media attention.
"We thought we'd just do this quietly," said resident Jonathan Weier. "There's holes in the ground, and there's no one filling them, so let's fill them."
What could have remained a half-serious joke over drinks became a sudden visible reality.
They bought 17 bags of cold patch, about 900 pounds — all for $120, which they thought might cover the length of a block.
Jeff Salazar and Jonathan Weir, (right) both of Hamtramck stand on Lumpkin St. near the potholes that need to be repaired on Monday, July 27, j2015. (Photo: Daniel Bethencourt, Detroit Free Press)
Two days later, on Saturday morning, the friends dragged themselves out of bed and spread out with handheld packing tools on one of the rockiest streets near their homes: Lumpkin Street, between Caniff and Casmere.
An hour and a half later, the six had filled up most of the block before running out of material. As Lumpkin stretches north toward Casmere, deeper and deeper holes stretched on, unfilled.
Hamtramck's potholes are notorious for being some of the worst in the region. In March, a single block of Charest Street was found to have 33 potholes — including one the Free Press described as an "ovalish monster" stretching 5 feet in length.
And Michigan residents already deal with some of the worst roads in the country. Almost 40% of Michigan's roads were found to be in poor shape in 2014 data. The year's freezing and thawing makes bad road conditions even worse.
But this weekend, the friends in Hamtramck plan to redouble their efforts. They bought another round of cold patch bags, and plan to keep on going.
Plus, they're hoping for more volunteers.
"If every resident bought a bag of cold patch, this would be over," said Maritza Garibay, adding that a bag costs about $10 and that the process is extremely simple. "You just have to tamp it down."
Within 24 hours of their project, the friends were confronted with a "constant stream" of media attention. Virtually all of it has been positive — though Garibay refuted the notion in some online comments that they might be anarchists or opposed to the city.
NPR's "All Things Considered" interviewed Weier on Monday, and the group's GoFundMe page — titled "Hamtramck Guerrilla Road Repair" — garnered about 1,000 shares. About $800 in donations appeared within two days.
Even the Hamtramck mayor was supportive.
"It just speaks to me about the level of commitment to and affection for Hamtramck that residents here have," Mayor Karen Majewski told MLive. "There's such a strong sense of community spirit and a feeling that we're all in it together. People here are willing to step up and do what they can to make the city work."
Weier said of all the attention: "It's overwhelming, it's inspiring, and it makes us feel like we're in the right (by) doing this."
Contact Daniel Bethencourt: dbethencourt@freepress.com or 313-223-4531. Follow on Twitter at @_dbethencourt.
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