CLEVELAND — Overgrown grass, trash and dying trees, Clevelanders are using social media to bring attention to some questionable parts of town they'd like to see cleaned-up ahead of the All-Star Game.
Lisa Hahner, known as City Gal Sports on Twitter, shared video of a recent drive along Brookpark Road.
All the excitement at the airport about welcoming people here for #AllStarGame then that person gets on shuttle to car rental & see where @CityofCleveland never mows. I tweeted this last 2 yrs, the weeds are as tall as the sign smh. So embarrassing. pic.twitter.com/Kedn8sLyBh
— Lisa Hahner (@citygalsports) June 18, 2019
Hahner said the stretch of road hasn't been mowed or maintained in at least two years.
The City of Cleveland said the property is not their responsibility, it's ODOT's. But an ODOT spokesperson told us, "We do not mow or pickup litter on state routes within cities. Which includes Brookpark Road in the city of Cleveland."
Meantime, along the Shoreway, concerns about baseball fan's first impressions.
There are dozens of dead or dying trees, some of them even knocked to the ground.
"Just don't quite understand why these trees didn't thrive and why they didn't survive," said Amanda McFarland, ODOT.
Twitter user Michael 44107 called the new median overgrown with weeds a “catastrophe.”
5 months later, and i think the answer became self-evident. it was to keep company the hundreds of dead tumbleweeds planted in the median. Amirite @CityofCleveland @ODOT_Cleveland @CuyahogaCounty? #Lakefrontwest #treemageddon https://t.co/pg8jvtUq8l
— michael (@michael44107) May 17, 2019
ODOT recently ordered a root and soil assessment to try and figure out why the trees planted in 2017 started deteriorating at the end of last year.
The results from the tests will determine whether the trees will be replaced.
Like the rest of us, because of all the rain, ODOT has not been able to cut the grass along the Shoreway.
We’re told it should be completed by All-Star week and that all the knocked over trees will be removed.
The dead or dying trees upright will remain standing for now.
