NEW ORLEANS — Potholes riddle New Orleans' streets, and they're often caused by incomplete repairs. That appears to be the case for one notorious hole in the French Quarter.
It's located in the 1000 Block of St. Peter Street on a busy one-way where traffic exits the French Quarter.
On Tuesday, large steel plates covered the gaping hole as Leo Lowder walked home.
“Do the work and get it done," Lowder said, "The whole street should be torn up and fixed. I won’t even ride my bicycle down through here. I go on the sidewalk. It gets so bumpy.”
Lowder isn't the only nearby resident calling for a permanent fix. Neighbors shared photos with WWL Louisiana of what the hole looked like days prior when the steel plates were not fully covering it.
“Either last Thursday or Friday night, I was walking into work and saw somebody stuck in the hole in like a small vehicle," said Emily Nestor. "The plate was there, but it wasn’t covering the hole. They’re able to shift as traffic goes over them."
One resident said he reported the hole to 311 after it suddenly popped up more than a week ago, and it's unclear what caused it.
“I have not physically seen anyone out here working on it," Nestor said.
“I have no idea who that was," Lowder said.
WWL Louisiana reached out to the City of New Orleans, the Sewerage and Water Board, and Entergy. SWBNO confirmed they're not doing any work in the area. The City told us thank you for following up.
Finally, Entergy New Orleans ended the mystery.
“Entergy crews are in the process of removing inactive gas service equipment," a spokesperson for Entergy N.O. said, “Steel plates temporarily installed on the street surface were secured in place by our team yesterday. We anticipate work being completed by Tuesday of next week.”
In the meantime, neighbors are left scarred.
“These are the same neighborhoods where we have to pay for a parking permit for residential parking. So you’re paying an annual fee and then you’re you know navigating like it’s Mario Kart around sinkholes in your street," Nestor said.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.