CLEVELAND - Roz McAllister says she's had it.

The pothole problem on Broadway Avenue in Cleveland has become too much for her to take.

On the morning of her 57th birthday, McAllister parked her car in the middle of the street and refused to move until something was done about what she said was a dangerous situation.

"There is a pothole underneath my car, right in front of a manhole casement and it's blowing out tires," McAllister said, as she stood on the sidewalk near her black Toyota Corolla with its hazard flashers on.
"I called city hall, I've talked to streets, I talked to [Councilman] Tony Brancatelli's office and I've been sitting out here for two hours waiting for somebody to come," McAllister said.

McAllister said she first became aware of the problem pothole on Monday, after her son got a flat tire. She said she called police at the time to report the danger and was surprised to find the situation unchanged Tuesday morning.

"I come down here to get my oatmeal from McDonald's and I find that the hole is still here unrepaired," McAllister said. "This is a very dangerous hole. People are crossing the yellow line to get around it on the other side."

McAllister said while she had been parked in the street a number of City of Cleveland vehicles had passed by. She said a Cuyahoga County Sheriff's deputy warned her she could be ticketed for impeding the flow of traffic.
A few minutes later, a Cleveland police patrol car pulled up behind McAllister's car with its lights on. McAllister conferred with the officer then moved her car away, leaving the police to guard the pothole in question.

"Our city is better than this. We as citizens are better than this. It's time city hall figures that out," McAllister said, before she drove off.