Teen, 18, Was Frustrated with Potholes in His Michigan Community, So He Went to Home Depot to Fix Them Himself

Teen, 18, Was Frustrated with Potholes in His Michigan Community, So He Went to Home Depot to Fix Them Himself https://ift.tt/CpkWeQB

"Why is every single road but Cherry Hill getting fixed?" he asked in a viral video

18-year-old Ali fixes potholes
Credit: WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7/YouTube

NEED TO KNOW

• Ali, 18, spent over $600 on new tires in six months due to potholes on Cherry Hill Road
• His TikTok video of filling potholes himself went viral and drew attention from local officials and the community
• The city plans to begin a $2.6 million repair project on Cherry Hill Road starting June 1

A frustrated teen decided to fix some potholes in his community all by himself.

Ali, a resident of Dearborn Heights, Mich., frequently drives on Cherry Hill Road to get to work, but has spent over $600 to get new tires in the past six months, according to WXYZ.

He also had a friend who had a tire pop while driving over the potholes on the road.

Because of this, Ali, 18, got fed up with the lack of maintenance. On Saturday, March 21, he went to Home Depot and bought four buckets of asphalt.

"Why is every single road but Cherry Hill getting fixed?" Ali said in a video about his pothole-filling process. "That s--- is p------ me off. I swear to God. So you want to know what I’m about to do? I’m about to go to Home Depot and I’m about to put some f------ asphalt on the road for all these potholes."

"So pretty much, I just grabbed the cap of the bucket, and I just scooped it out and spread it out, and I used it as a pushing point where I could just step on it and flatten it out," he told WXYZ.

The video went viral in the community. Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun commented that people have "patched Cherry Hill a few times already," but said it is hard when "temperatures continue to drop."

"The good news is that the city has been awarded a $2.6 million grant to fix all of Cherry Hill from Gully-Inkster. Project is expected to begin June 1st," Baydoun added.

Meanwhile, Dearborn Heights Department of Public Works representative John Danci told the outlet that while the potholes have been on their mind for five years, the road involves three different jurisdictions: the Wayne County Federal Aid Committee, Dearborn Heights and Inkster.

"Historically, between Dearborn Heights and the city of Inkster, the funding for a road project like this is much higher relative to our city budgets versus the county that gets a lot of state revenue," Danci said.

"You did something that at least gained a lot of attention," he added to Ali's pothole heroism.

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As for what's next for Ali, he hopes to find some other potholes to fill, with the help of his closest friends. He shared, "If I get enough funds to do it, I most definitely will. I'll probably call up a lot of my friends, and my friends are down to do it."