The water-filled crevice running between the street and the sidewalk in front of Chanelle Radons’ Regina home is more than just an eyesore.
Radons said the hole – now filled with rotting leaves – is a health hazard, and claimed the city isn’t fixing the problem quick enough.
“I called the city at the end of July because, throughout the summer, the front of my street was like really smelly (and) there's like a slew,” said Radons, who lives in the 1600 block of Toronto Street.
The City of Regina inspected the street, before sending out a sewage team to take a deeper look a week later.
“The sewage guy says, ‘It's not sewage. There's no idea where this water is coming from, and it's just stagnating,’” said Radons. “Which, to me, is a health concern.”
Radons said she was told the city would need to rebuild the street, and would do so within three weeks.
But, now two months since Radons reported the problem, the water remains. Radons is now concerned the water will turn to ice in the winter and become a safety concern.
“I understand there's lots of main breaks. But at the same time, I understand my property taxes have gone up and this is a health hazard for me and my family,” said Radons.
The city was unable to provide an on-camera interview on Wednesday. In a statement, it confirmed the odour issue was related to standing water, and said, "The city is doing some remedial work at this location to help with drainage.”
Radons isn't sure when that work will be done, but in the meantime, she's going to keep pushing the city to repair the street before the winter.
“We have kids,” said Radons. “The open door society has kids outside playing and running. This is not okay to have a street like this.”
