Hundreds of potholes in Talladega are causing major problems for residents

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - People in Talladega say there are potholes everywhere in their neighborhood and they can’t get any help to fix them.

This has been a problem for neighbors near Ridgewood Drive for more than a decade and they fear it’s only getting worse.

Neighbors like Linda Roberson and Craig Chapman are concerned about the cars and the safety of kids, and they wonder if first responders will get to them quickly enough during an emergency.

“It’s very concerning. There are fire hydrants all through here,” says Chapman. “There’s one in my yard. But it’s not going to do any good if the fire truck breaks before it gets here.”

Roberson has the same fears.

“We’ve got about 50. About 100 to 150-plus people who live over here,” says Roberson. “And the sad part is I’m worried about if we have to call an ambulance or something. It will take the ambulance a good five minutes to even get up this road. If somebody was having a heart attack, oh my God, they’ll be dead by the time they reached the end of this road.”

Both families have spent thousands trying to fix it themselves but nothing seems to work.

“It’s just gotten steadily worst,” says Chapman. “Last summer, the neighbors and I put our money together and bought almost a hundred tons of gravel. And I spent a whole Saturday with my tractor spreading it. And then a big rain came and washed it all away and we were back to what we had. It only lasted two weeks.”

Roberson says they’ve reached out to the city and county but they haven’t gotten any help. She says they pay hundreds in taxes but they don’t see their tax dollars at work.

“A lot of us pay like $400 to $300, some of us pay $500 and the city of Talladega gets it. We feel like we don’t count you know,” says Roberson. “It makes us feel like no matter what we do we fighting a losing battle. So it’s like why are we paying property tax if no one is going to do anything.”

Talladega County’s Highway Department shared this statement: “The county is certainly sympathetic to the land owners but there is nothing the county commission or road department can do because of the nature of how the subdivision was done.”

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