INDIANAPOLIS — "It's very bumpy! Oh, I hate it! It's bad," said Ashley Gurvitz.
Drivers on the east side of Indianapolis say a stretch of 38th Street is a nightmare that will leave your car needing repairs.
"Starting at East 38th Street at Sherman Drive going to about Emerson Avenue eastbound, we have the most rugged stretch of pavement," said Gurvitz
Ashley Gurvitz knows first-hand just how rough the road is and so does her new car and her mechanic. After having her car less than a year she's already had to send her car to shop after driving down 38th Street every day.
"This has been something not only that I experience, others within this community, employers, employees, all know even with the video off they know the sound of what it's like driving on it and it's just ridiculous," said Gurvitz.
While Gurvitz is no fan of 38th Street's current condition, there is some good news. The Indianapolis Department of Public Works says East 38th Street is one of the city's top priorities. In the past three years the city has spent $3 million repaving 38th Street between Keystone Avenue and Sherman Drive and from Emerson Avenue to Arlington Avenue. The portion of road that has Gurvitz at her wit's end is located immediately between those two recent projects.
DPW says the portion of 38th Street from Sherman Drive to Emerson Avenue will receive major improvements when construction on the IndyGo Purple Line begins next year. In the meantime, Gurvitz is hoping for a short-term solution. "A simple strip patch would be better than nothing, and us waiting almost a year out before we see any improvements," said Gurvitz.
DPW says it will continue to respond to pothole and street maintenance requests that are reported along that stretch of East 38th Street, while fully understanding that the repairs are a short-term solution until construction on the purple line begins.
