Detroit man says city tore up his driveway - and hasn't fixed it in 3 years

DETROIT (WJBK) - Howard Rice has been dealing with a drive-way nightmare for more than two and a half years.

In February of 2015 there was a water main break on Bramell, the street the 85-year-old Rice lives on, in Detroit.

"I want it fixed like they promised me they would fix it," he said. "The guy who dug it out said they'd be back in three to four months."

But the months went by and nothing happened so Howard and his son Rayford took matters into their own hands.

"We did the best we could so I could get my car back in," Rice said.

"This was just a big open hole," said Rayford Rice, Howard's son. "My mother was very ill, so we put stuff in there ourselves like big chunks of rocks and stuff that was in the backyard to fill in the hole. I was putting in gravel just so he could get out.

"I wanted to make sure he didn't sink in there."

Rayford used everything for the hole, including gravel from his aquariam, he said. Eventually Howard and Rayford say the water department did temporarily patch the hole with asphalt.

But they want the job done right. FOX 2 contacted the water department and told them about Howard's problem.

"I completely understand," said Palencia Mobley, deputy director and chief engineer, for the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. "I am not trying to make it look like for one minute that we are blameless in this instance. This is a process that is broken. This is the result of a department that was not focused on the retail business."

Mobley admits Howard Rice's issue fell through the cracks, but she is hoping the water department can fix it properly within the next week.

Generally, Nov. 1 we shut down the restoration process," she said. "We are going to work dilligently to get this incorporated before the restoration process ceases for the season."