NEW ORLEANS — An infamously raised manhole in Gert Town is finally being repaired after WWL Louisiana shared an exclusive interview with Bradley Nodier. The 45-year-old father of two slammed into the manhole earlier this week. He says the collision sent him to the ICU.
Security footage shows Nodier driving down the 1400 block of South Rendon Street on Wednesday morning. His break lights appear to come on briefly before the car crashes into a raised manhole and bounces back.
About twenty minutes later, police and an ambulance show up. Bradley says the crash caused a serious neck injury and claimed partial use of his arms and legs.
“It’s numb, both legs are numb, I would say from my chest down is all numb,” Nodier said.
As a father of two and his family’s provider, the crash is devastating.
“When am I going to be able to walk or move? Everything is cramped up,” Nodier said.
On Thursday we shared his story, and by Thursday afternoon the Sewerage and Water Board had sent out a crew to put down gravel.
A spokesperson for the Sewerage and Water Board told us quote, “Asphalt will be installed as soon as weather allows.”
The Maze Studio owner Jules Michael Dooly says it’s going to take more than a little gravel to fix the infrastructure nightmare on the block.
“It’s frustrating as a business owner to do everything you can to try to mitigate the issue,” Dooly said.
Dooly says the street doesn’t drain properly and floods often, causing the pavement around the manhole and down the street to sink.
“Sometimes in the super heavy rains it will seep into the curb and the building,” Dooly said.
According to a City of New Orleans work order, the 1400 block of South Rendon Street was deemed in very poor condition in 2016. The repair status on that work order eight years later is “to be determined”.
When we asked the Department of Public Works about the flooding issue on South Rendon, they said they recently cleaned all four catch basins on the block and flushed the main line, but when we asked them if they had any plans to repave the street, they didn’t get back to us.
Two days after the crash, Bradley says the accident took more than just his mobility. Now, it’s taking time with his family.
“I’m missing my son’s track meet. It’s heartbreaking, I was looking forward to it. He ran all summer and that was his goal,” Nodier said.
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