Fed Up with Crummy Streets, Detroit-Area Residents Patch Potholes

Some Detroit-area residents fed up with the crummy condition of certain streets are taking matters into their own hands.

Volunteers with the recently started Hamtramck Guerrilla Road Repair effort started filling in potholes July 25 on one roadway and they plan to make repairs to other side streets in the coming weekends, The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press reported.

“We’re all just concerned citizens who care about the city and want to help,” said Maritza Garibay, a teacher and member of the group who has lived in Hamtramck for several years. She said “the city can only do so much as far as repairs to our roads.”

For last Saturday’s work, they said they spent about $120 to buy several hundred pounds of cold patch. Garibay noted that those involved already have spent hundreds of dollars to repair their vehicles because of damage caused by streets in the cash-strapped city.

The patching plan was hatched at a local bar, they said, and those involved now are seeking donations to help fund future work. Group member Jonathan Weier said they made sure the efforts wouldn’t conflict with the city’s roadwork plans and got “their goodwill blessing.”

Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski said the Detroit enclave, like other Michigan communities, gets a certain amount of money from the state for road repairs, so projects must be prioritized. She said Hamtramck has been focusing this year on repairing streets used as fire routes.

Majewski said other residents have pursued their own patching, including in the 1990s, but “this is just a more organized effort.”

“It’s really exciting,” she said. “That’s really indicative of the community spirit and sense of identity that pervades Hamtramck and always has.”