Chesapeake residents concerned over a pothole on railroad tracks; company says change is coming

Posted: Jul 17, 2020 / 08:21 AM MDT

Updated: Jul 17, 2020 / 08:23 AM MDT

CHESAPEAKE, V.a. (WAVY) — As more businesses reopen, more people are hitting the roads again, and it’s making for some new problems and the worsening of some old ones.

There’s a pothole on South Military Highway at Willis Street, not far from the Gilmerton Bridge. It’s located between railroad tracks.

Drivers and nearby business owners say they’ve been asking the city and the company that operates the tracks to fix it for years.

“When you go over them, they are very rough on your vehicle,” said Chesapeake resident, Michelle Welliver. “You can feel the bounce of the car.”

This is a feeling Michelle Welliver and her husband are tired of when they drive this way on a daily basis.

“We had some front end issues with our truck last year,” Welliver said. “Now, I’m not saying that it all came from these tracks, but it didn’t help.”

She isn’t the only Chesapeake resident fed up with this pothole on the tracks.

“Every day you can get hubcaps, you can get things that fly off the back of trucks,” said Steven Thacker, owner of Tint Daddy’s in Chesapeake. “Anything from rakes to shovels, all kinds of things.”

These tracks are operated by a company called NGL, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Welliver and Thacker are calling on the city of Chesapeake and NGL to make it safer to commute across the tracks.

“I’d like to see concrete put in,” Thacker said.

“I’ve gotten ahold of the city many times and all I get is they’re privately owned tracks. They’re owned by NGL and I tried to contact them,” Welliver said.

10 On Your Side contacted the company. Kurston McMurray from NGL said the company will have a temporary black top installed within the next couple of days.

He said they’re working to find contractors to help with a long term fix, but adds the coronavirus pandemic is slowing that process down.

He adds they’ve allocated money for long-term repairs in their 2020 budget, and hopes to have them complete by the end of this year.