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By ANN S. KIM, Staff Writer
CHAPEL HILL -- A monster pothole flattened tires on at least 14 cars -- and perhaps as many as 20 -- Friday night before it was put out of commission.
The Orange Water and Sewer Authority had dug the hole in the inner westbound lane of Raleigh Road, near the U.S. 15-501 underpass, to work on an old water main. The hole had been filled with dirt and gravel, but heavy rains washed that away Friday, OWASA spokesman Greg Feller said.
The hole was cold-patched Friday night, but not before it claimed the rear left tire of Molly Willis' Honda Civic.
Willis, 18, a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill from Greenville, said she slammed on the brakes when she saw the car in front of her having some sort of difficulty.
"It was really deep. And it sounded, when I hit the hole, like my car was exploding," Willis said. The man who came to change her tire said she was the pothole's 20th victim, she said.
Daniel Harper, 20, a sophomore from Concord, was jolted by the impact of his Acura TSX hitting the pothole and his front left tire popping.
Six or seven other cars were stopped along the side of the road when he pulled over, he said. He could hear the effects of other drivers' run-ins during the half hour it took him to change the tire.
"I definitely heard people driving by and that flat tire sound -- fft, fft, fft. Definitely heard that," he said.
Willis and Harper were relatively lucky. Some of the pothole's victims reported two flattened tires and damaged rims.
Lt. Carl Moraven of the Chapel Hill police said no accidents were reported in connection with the pothole.
OWASA and the state Department of Transportation repaired the hole Friday evening, Feller said.
Anyone who wants to try to get reimbursed for damages from OWASA can call the authority, he said. But it wasn't immediately clear who might be liable for the hole in the state-maintained road.
"I just don't know," Feller said. "If someone wants to make a damage claim to OWASA, we do have insurance."
Daniel Keel, a DOT operations program manager, said claims filed against his agency would be investigated by the Attorney General's Office. The investigation would decide whether DOT is liable, a determination that could hinge on whether the problem was fixed within a reasonable time.
"If it's fixed within hours, that's a reasonable response," he said.
OWASA can be reached at 968-4421. Damage claim forms for the state Department of Transportation can be downloaded from www.ncdot.org/contact /findcounty.
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/3318929p-2959739c.html
CHAPEL HILL -- A monster pothole flattened tires on at least 14 cars -- and perhaps as many as 20 -- Friday night before it was put out of commission.
The Orange Water and Sewer Authority had dug the hole in the inner westbound lane of Raleigh Road, near the U.S. 15-501 underpass, to work on an old water main. The hole had been filled with dirt and gravel, but heavy rains washed that away Friday, OWASA spokesman Greg Feller said.
The hole was cold-patched Friday night, but not before it claimed the rear left tire of Molly Willis' Honda Civic.
Willis, 18, a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill from Greenville, said she slammed on the brakes when she saw the car in front of her having some sort of difficulty.
"It was really deep. And it sounded, when I hit the hole, like my car was exploding," Willis said. The man who came to change her tire said she was the pothole's 20th victim, she said.
Daniel Harper, 20, a sophomore from Concord, was jolted by the impact of his Acura TSX hitting the pothole and his front left tire popping.
Six or seven other cars were stopped along the side of the road when he pulled over, he said. He could hear the effects of other drivers' run-ins during the half hour it took him to change the tire.
"I definitely heard people driving by and that flat tire sound -- fft, fft, fft. Definitely heard that," he said.
Willis and Harper were relatively lucky. Some of the pothole's victims reported two flattened tires and damaged rims.
Lt. Carl Moraven of the Chapel Hill police said no accidents were reported in connection with the pothole.
OWASA and the state Department of Transportation repaired the hole Friday evening, Feller said.
Anyone who wants to try to get reimbursed for damages from OWASA can call the authority, he said. But it wasn't immediately clear who might be liable for the hole in the state-maintained road.
"I just don't know," Feller said. "If someone wants to make a damage claim to OWASA, we do have insurance."
Daniel Keel, a DOT operations program manager, said claims filed against his agency would be investigated by the Attorney General's Office. The investigation would decide whether DOT is liable, a determination that could hinge on whether the problem was fixed within a reasonable time.
"If it's fixed within hours, that's a reasonable response," he said.
OWASA can be reached at 968-4421. Damage claim forms for the state Department of Transportation can be downloaded from www.ncdot.org/contact /findcounty.
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/3318929p-2959739c.html
