Nine Cars Damaged by Poorly Marked Manhole Covers in East Greenwich

EAST GREENWICH, RI—The recent construction work that brought a new layer of fresh pavement to Division Street also brought at least nine cars to local repair shops thanks to inadequate marking of road hazards, according to police.

A total of nine people filed reports with police last week after their cars were damaged, some severely, after ramming into exposed manhole and gas and water covers left behind by J.H. Lynch & Sons work crews removing the old road surface and installing a new one.

A review of all 10 police reports show each driver said that they either didn't see the cover sticking out of the ground until it was too late, or not at all.

In one instance, police responded to a manhole cover on Division Street just west of First Ave where a 65-year-old Newport man lost two tires on his passenger side.

"I photographed the manhole cover which was not clearly marked," the officer reported.

Police ended up putting a traffic cone on one of the exposed manhole covers that seemed to cause the most damage.

Most incidents occurred during the day. Some drivers said they rammed into the manhole cover with no warning. Others were forced to drive into it to avoid a turning vehicle or because of other traffic obstructions.

In each case, police reported that affected residents planned to file claims with the state Department of Transportation for reimbursement.

Here's a breakdown of the incidents:

• On May 12 at 12:12 p.m,. a 65-year-old Newport man struck an elevated manhole cover near First Avenue, causing damage to his BWM. He wasn't sure of the extent of the damage because the car had to go up on a lift.
• On May 12 at 1:57 p.m., a Hope Valley woman told police that she hit a manhole cover, destruction two tires on the passenger side of her 2015 Hyundai. The car as towed by AAA.
• On May 12 at 2:59 p.m., an East Greenwich man told police that he struck the cover at around 6 p.m. the day before. He said he was passing a car that was about to turn left, causing him to strike the manhole cover and lose both driver side tires. The cost for new tires and balancing was $452.01.
• On May 13, a Warwick man said he crashed into the manhole cover on May 11. He said there was no cone on the cover and lost a tire. The repair cost was $325.
• On May 13, a 49-year-old Coventry man told police he had just hit the manhole cover, taking out his tire.
• A 17-year-old girl driving a 2013 Mercedes struck the cover at around 5:06 p.m. on May 13. She told police it was not coned like the others, didn't see it until the last minute and couldn't swerve due to oncoming traffic. Police said the car ended up disabled on the side of the road with two flat tires.
• A 23-year-old Richmond woman stuck the cover on May 13 at around 5:10 p.m. This time, the cone appeared to have been knocked off and was on the ground nearby. The spray paint marking the cover had been worn off and was hard to see, according to the police report.
• A 36-year-old Cranston man lost a front tire when he struck the cover in his 2012 Nissan at around 9 p.m.
• A 49-year-old Smithfield woman told police that she hit was looked like a gas cap in the roadway on May 11 sometime around 8:15 p.m. She said that she tried to swerve to avoid one cover sticking up out of the road only to hit another. The damage to fix her tire and rim is about $400.