TOLEDO, Ohio — The start of spring marks the beginning of pothole season. But on one south Toledo street, pothole season is year-round.
Jerry Mocek said he's lived in the area of Rugby Road for 20 years.
"It's a beautiful neighborhood, everyone is so friendly," Mocek said. "We have the Chessie Circle Trail right behind our house so we'll walk down there, and it's just really a nice neighborhood."
It's nice, except when it comes to the road.
"It needed to be repaired four years ago when I called and requested that to be done," Mocek said.
Mocek said the road has gotten progressively worse over the years, with dozens of potholes.
"The constant year, after year, after year of the same thing happening and no response from the city other than to supposedly fill up the potholes," he said. "But then again two months later, they're all falling apart again."
He said he and his neighbors got tired of no answers.
"We called Engage Toledo, we did the See Click Fix app and contacted (Toledo City Council president) Matt Cherry and nothing happened, so we said 'well, the next thing that should happen is a petition,'" Mocek said.
Cherry did respond to Mocek and said:
"We appreciate you getting this petition to us. I have advocated for the repaving of Rugby for years but Rugby is just one of hundreds of roads in this condition throughout our City. With the passing of the road tax by the gracious constituents of our City, Council and the Administration have been able to make a huge dent in the number of roads to be redone. I am anxiously awaiting the release of the 2024 list of streets and keeping my fingers crossed that Rugby will make the cut."
Thirty-two people living in the area signed the petition that Mocek and his neighbor put together. On Tuesday morning, city workers came out and cold-patched Rugby Road. Mocek said at this point, the road needs to be torn up and redone.
"There's nothing I can do except wait to see if they really do something," Mocek said.
Mocek said someone from the city told him over the phone that Rugby Drive was on the list of roads to get fixed for 2023, but it's not. City officials told WTOL 11 that there are hundreds of roads in Toledo that need to be worked on and evaluated and that Rugby Drive is on their radar.
To check to see if your road is on the roads to be fixed list for 2023 in Toledo, click here.