Fishtown pothole: Neighbors fed up as reoccurring pothole creates safety concerns on one-way street

Fishtown pothole on one-way street causes major inconvenience, safety concern

Neighbors in Fishtown are fed up with a reoccurring sinkhole on their one-way street.

PHILADELPHIA - Neighbors in Fishtown are fed up with a reoccurring problem on their street. 

What we know:

It appears to be a sinkhole located on E Oxford Street after turning in from Frankford Avenue.

It’s also a one-way street, which complicates the issue further as drivers either have to drive around the hazardous area or fully back out onto Frankford Avenue.

What they're saying:

James Gentile said he printed out homemade signs to warn drivers that read "GIGANTIC POTHOLE". He said he grew tired of hearing fights break out between drivers.

"People keep driving down this street and getting in fights and stuff because they’ll get to the hole and someone will try and backup and then people get mad and they don’t understand," said Gentile. "I was trying to put the signs up because people keep moving all the barricades."

In fact, another neighbor Derek Fulforth said the cones around the sinkhole were placed there by neighbors as well.

"So these cones and that Philly Water Department sign have been with this construction site since they began starting to build this," said Fulforth. "So people on the block set up the cones and put the signs down at the end of the street to try to deter people from coming down here."

Neighbors said the Streets Department and Water Department have responded before to assess the problem and make repairs but the holes in the road keep coming back.

"The only source we really have is to put in a 311 tickets and we put in a lot of those," said Fulforth. "The lack of empathy I guess from the city to fix something this bad is kind of underwhelming."

"A year ago, there was a big pothole there. It did collapse and they did come in and fill it in," said neighbor Alex Collada. "We’ve been waiting for several months now to see how they’re going to address this. The Water Department was here this morning trying to figure out a leak because I saw them with some green fluid in that hole trying to figure out where it goes."

While this is a major inconvenience for residents on the street, many are more concerned about it being a safety issue.

"Even family life, you know, just because it’s safety for the kids and stuff who do play on the street here," said Collada.

"I think someone might’ve fell in the hole a few weeks ago. There was a woman screaming and I looked down and there was a woman on a bike and a bunch of people standing around the hole," said Gentile. "I’m worried that a car is going to fall through the street at some point because people aren’t listening to the barricade."

"Hopefully they hear the cry for help and they figure it out and fix it soon so we have a safer street for people to travel down," said Fulforth.

What's next:

A spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office said this is a Water Department issue.

FOX 29 has reached out and is waiting for a response.