Pothole or sinkhole, one man's car is damaged by the hole

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A Milwaukee man says his car was damaged by a deep sinkhole on a city street. The city says it's a pothole.

Dominic Wink lives on S. 12th St. near Cleveland Ave. On Wednesday afternoon, March 13th, he was driving and hit a hole that formed in the road. He says it sent him flying.

"All my change in the cup holder few up to the roof of the car, everything in my car was all over the place," said Wink.

Wink's rear tire blew a hole, hit front tire had a new bulge, and now he's afraid to drive the vehicle. As far as Wink is concerned, the hole, which was even deeper Wednesday night, is a sinkhole.

"I was told, I flew like five feet through the air and my car is damaged. That's not a pothole," said Wink.

The Milwaukee Department of Public Works says it is a pothole.

"A sinkhole is more fluid and ongoing. This was just a void in the roadway underneath the pavement," said Jeff Dellemann of the DPW.

Dellemann says the city was out Thursday morning, March 14th to put what he called backfill into the hole. He believes the ground was worn away because of a water main break back in January. A long-term fix will come around summer.

"This morning we sent crews out, our sewer department was out there and they did a dye test into the hole and the dye test came back negative, there was no other pipe, damaged pipes or anything," said Dellemann.

The city might pay for the damage to Wink's car. He has to submit a claim to the city clerk. Then he'll hear back from them.

In the meantime, the DPW will be in the neighborhood on Friday, March 15th to fill in the hole. Officials say the road is safe.