NEW ORLEANS — Residents in Uptown have been channeling their green thumbs into their notoriously cratered roads.
When a sinkhole began to form on one street in particular a few years back, some neighbors took matters into their own hands. Now, their mini street-garden has people talking.
Drive by it and you'll probably miss it. Because what looks like some overgrown weeds, is actually a sinkhole-turned-garden.
"We've been seeing it for a long time," said neighbor Lourdes Lugo. "Either the Earth is really healthy or really contaminated."
"It's hilarious," said Bitsy Metcalf. "Almost every time I come back from work, I go back to my car and I see someone taking another picture of it."
After part of the street started crumbling years ago, residents say an orange cone was put in by the city. It's now a scare crow.
"He needs a name, he's a personality of his own," Metcalf said.
However, after the cone was placed and the hole was never filled, three friends decided to have some fun and plant some seeds. Those seeds recently sprouted.
"We just laugh, I just laugh and we smile a lot because at least it's producing something," Lugo said.
Jokes aside though, for some, it's not all watermelons and corn on the cob. They say it highlights the bigger issue of bumpy, pothole-ridden streets in New Orleans.
"Have to do something about it, so I think citizens take it into their own hands," Metcalf said.
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"Do something visible we can appreciate that our tax money is going to something productive," Lugo said. "But it's not."
And as some turn their frustration into green thumbs, the hope is this New Orleans garden does more than just get the attention of those passing by. They hope it grows the city's interest to take action and fix it.
WWL-TV reached out to the city who sent this statement:
"A maintenance inspector with the City's Department of Public Works will assess the site today and determine the best path forward. This intersection is scheduled to be addressed as part of the RR3 - East Riverside, Garden District, Irish Channel, St Thomas Group A project that is scheduled to begin in early 2020."