TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — For Chris Ingram and many others, Manhattan Avenue, just South of Interbay Boulevard to Richardson Avenue is a constant source of frustration.
“We need better streets. We need better road repair. South Tampa is an embarrassment. I’ve been in third-world countries that have better road infrastructure than South Tampa does,” said Ingram.
He says the road was torn up more than a year ago and now just sits as a dusty, pothole-filled street and it appears no work has been going on there for months.
“The city and the mayor specifically are responsible for this and she needs to be held accountable and responsible when city roads, infrastructure being repaired needs to be done in a timely fashion,” said Ingram.
He’s not the only one complaining about it. Many people in the neighborhood are frustrated by the lack of work being done on the road.
“Yeah, it’s pretty painful, we’ve lived here for almost four years now but for my wife who drops off our kids a couple of times a day, that’s 10-15 minutes extra,” said Jacob Sheehann who lives nearby.
Shirley Bristow says she’s broken two mirrors on her car because she has to navigate around old and narrow streets in the area as a result of Manhattan Avenue being closed.
“This is mirror number two. First one was knocked completely off probably a year or two ago, so I had to replace that one. This one is just cracked,” said Bristow who feels the city has not communicated anything about the road or when the project will be done.
“I want to know what’s going on. I mean, why can they not fix this road,” said Bristow.
A spokesperson for the city of Tampa blamed a developer for the delay in road repairs, but would not name the developer.
WFLA is working to get more answers from the city about the reasons for the delay and the timeline for the completion of the project.
