ONLY ON 3: Neighborhood wants solution for potholes, sinkholes

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Some Wilmington homeowners are seeking a permanent solution for years of recurring potholes.

Homeowners in Lansdowne Estates are also dealing with a failed stormwater drain.  Homeowner Bill Durham said the road is deteriorating.

“The pavement just can’t last that much longer,” Durham said.

Durham said it is also not a pretty sight.

“The last five years has really been something to look at,” Durham said.

Durham said potholes started showing up on Yorkshire Lane.

“The pavement is about an inch thick,” Durham said. “Each rain, it potholes out.”

He said the City of Wilmington has been re-filling the potholes though.

“They have been very prompt,” Durham said.

He said they need something more, because drivers and homeowners are still feeling the affects.

“It’s causing our homes to be depreciated,” Durham said. “One home has been for sale for like a year and a half. It can’t be sold. The street condition has a lot to do with that.”

Durham said what looks like a sinkhole formed on Brookshire Lane.

“Something really needs to be done,” Durham said.

City spokesman Dylan Lee said a storm drain failed and then the road began caving after heavy rain. Cape Fear Public Utility Authority Spokesman Mike McGill said city leaders want to replace the drain, but he said CFPUA has to move its water main.

“We’ve talked to the city about it,” Durham said. “I understand they have problems, but that’s not anything I can deal with or we can deal with as citizens of the street. We’re just left with a bad street.”

A bad street Durham said he wants the city to repair with a permanent solution.

“And that would involve repaving,” Durham said.

Lee said they are working on repairs as quickly as possible on the drainage pipe, but there is no timetable for repaving that particular section of road.

“As to the road as a whole, according to the city’s five year infrastructure improvement plan, this section of street graded as ‘fair,'” Lee said. ” This assessment, plus the traffic counts, plus the need to coordinate paving with potential utility work all factor in to the scheduling and prioritization of paving. We do plan to work in that neighborhood, but there is no timetable for repaving that particular section of road.”

McGill said CFPUA will meet with the city this week to talk about the failed storm drain.