CLEVELAND — Nelsa and Victor Montanez have lived on Scranton Road near the intersection of Valentine Road in Cleveland for nearly 3 decades, and over the years they’ve seen the area grow.
“There are houses over here. There are kids over there,” said Nelsa Montanez.
But while the neighborhood has grown, so has the amount of traffic.
“A lot of people cross back and forth all day,” she said.
The couple said the busy traffic has become dangerous in the last few years, and they’re fed up.
“Fix it before something else happens, something bigger,” she said.
The couple said that when trucks coming from a one way stretch of Sackett Avenue and turn right on Scranton to get to Valentine Road, the trucks often cannot make the turn because the road is too narrow.
“You see that pole over there? That pole is 18 inches from the street and those people, they have no room to go they go back and forth,” said Victor Montanez, referring to the pole at the corner of Sackett Avenue and Scranton Road.
Last year, a semi-truck, trying to make the turn onto Scranton, ended up stuck in between two trees on their lawn.
It not only damaged their yard, their electric poles and trees, but it came just inches from their house.
“We are not safe. We need them to put a railing over here [Scranton Rd.] The city should put a railing over here to avoid something bigger, something they’re going to regret in the future,” she said.
Mrs. Montanez said if that first incident wasn’t bad enough, Monday afternoon, a Budweiser truck came close to hitting her grandchildren who were playing outside while it was trying to make the turn onto Scranton.
“Please do something about it,” she said as a plea to city leaders.
The family has called Cleveland Police and Cleveland city council members, but they said nothing has been fixed.
They also want a light at the intersection because they said people speed through the area and there have been many crashes.
“Put a sign over there [Sackett Ave.] that say no trucks allowed over here, please,” she said. “Before we lose our house or somebody gets killed.”
News 5 reached out to Ward 14 Councilwoman Jasmin Santana. She said she has contacted city engineers and has reached out to ODOT to see what else can be done. She said she would be out to the area soon to investigate and talk to the Montanez family.
