PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Residents who live in a neighborhood in Oldsmar are experiencing issues with their sidewalks and are pleading for help.
"Christmas day, my wife and family was walking down through here, and comes upon this, and she didn't see it raised up about two and a half, three inches, and she tripped over it, and she went this way and landed on her elbow," said Mike Wolf.
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Wolf's family loves walking in his neighborhood, Gull Aire Village in Oldsmar, but two years ago, his wife tripped and broke her elbow.
"We started talking to the other neighbors and they said so and so fell here and twisted her ankle, and so and so broke her wrist, and I was like, this has got to stop," said Wolf.
Wolf said the issue is the sidewalks are falling apart.
"I trip on some of this stuff. When I go for walks, I walk on the street, but if I had to get on the sidewalk because of a car, I've got to watch because I've got a bad foot," said Wolf.
He said after his wife fell, the City of Oldsmar fixed that area of the sidewalk, but Wolf said he's contacted the city to see if they will come fix the rest of the sidewalks in the neighborhood, with no response.
"I don't want to see anybody get hurt, this is ridiculous. The sidewalks and the streets are our enemy," said Wolf.
Another resident said the sidewalks have become so dangerous, she's had to stop going on her daily walks.
"I have stumbled on the sidewalks...when you're watching where your feet are going, you're missing what's in front of you too," said Becky Vermont, who lives in the area.
She said going on a walk was one of her favorite activities.
"Really kind of frustrating because you want to go out and enjoy your walk and you have to be extra careful," said Vermont.
The City of Oldsmar sent this statement in response:
"The City of Oldsmar is committed to maintaining safe and accessible sidewalks for our residents. We have a citywide sidewalk inspection program and are building a database to help guide future work. We recognize the concerns residents have shared and based on our ongoing evaluations, we are planning to focus sidewalk grinding in the Gull Aire community as part of our upcoming work program in the next fiscal year. We encourage residents to continue reporting issues so that we can track and address them appropriately."
"I want to protect these people around me because we are family now…we are literally a family," said Wolf.
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