SURPRISE, AZ — Residents in Surprise say potholes along 178th Avenue near Deer Valley Road are forcing drivers to evade and survive.
One pothole is probably around a foot deep if you stand in it, and if you are driving, it is certainly a big plunge.
"They wake me up at night sometimes when somebody hits it hard, you say, oh, somebody hit that hole,” said William West, a resident who lives near the potholes. "I got to go cross the yellow line, back and forth, to stop you from hitting the potholes, you know?"
But the pothole problem, residents say, is only half the battle. A woman named Irma reached out to ABC15 saying that Maricopa County and the City of Surprise are pointing at each other saying it is the other’s responsibility to fix the roadway.
"So that's where we're at and nobody wants to fix them,” said West, who also says he got similar responses from the city and county.
Maricopa County’s transportation department directed ABC15 to its online Road Information Tool saying this all falls within the City of Surprise.
ABC15 then reached out to the city. They say they do not own the contiguous right-of-way on certain portions of 178th Avenue.
"Without owning all of that right-of-way, the City cannot make repairs to that road,” the city said in a statement. ABC15 asked who owns the rest of the right-of-way and the city later said it is a private road.
"I want to see them fix the road, somebody fix the road, you know,” said West.