OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – Parents in Rochester Hills and Oakland Township say the only road leading to Hugger Elementary School has become so rough this winter that school buses are forced to crawl and kids are being bounced out of their seats.
The problem is on Sheldon Road between Mead and Snell roads, a gravel stretch that parents describe as heavily potholed, deeply rutted, and, at times, nearly impassable.
“It’s hard. In the Spring and Fall, there are a lot of potholes,” said Arcelynn Lipka, a parent with two students at the school.
“When I am reading a book, it’s impossible to read,” said her son Jameson. “It’s like up and down. Up and down.”
His sister Aliza compared the ride to a rollercoaster.
Parents say they now even build in extra time for school drop-off and pickup because buses and cars must travel so slowly on Sheldon Road.
“When we know the roads are bad, we have to come extra early just to make sure they get to school on time,” Lipka said.
“It’s a public school. We pay the taxes, and we deserve a paved road,” said Valentina Cereseto.
Zhivko Tyankov said dozens of parents have filed complaints with the Road Commission for Oakland County.
He said it’s become a serious safety concern.
“Students are bouncing off the seats and the ground in the bus,” Tyankov said. “They are bumping their bodies and head into the windows.”
Sheldon Road is the only access road for Hugger Elementary, and parents say the volume of school and subdivision traffic only makes the ruts and potholes worse.
Just last week, we highlighted severe potholes on Silver Bell Road in Oakland Township.
On Thursday (Feb. 26), we were in Huron Township talking to drivers who said they were fed up with cratered roads there as well.
Road commissions say there is another challenge: timing.
Crews can’t fully grade gravel roads until the ground thaws.
During the freeze-thaw cycle, they are often limited to temporary fixes that can wash out after rain or melt.
The Road Commission for Oakland County said crews did “major grading” at the intersection of Sheldon and Mead roads last Thursday, and also graded Sheldon and Snell.
But then it poured.
The commission said crews returned Monday to spot-grade Mead, Sheldon, and Snell roads. Officials expect to return again next week.
Parents and residents hope the safety concerns will make the road a higher priority for frequent maintenance.
Why not just pave all the gravel roads?
It’s a question we hear every year: If gravel roads are such a problem, why not pave them?
The short answer is money.
Oakland County receives only enough designated federal road funding to pave about one mile of gravel road per year.
Who’s responsible for fixing gravel-road potholes?
Responsibility depends on whose jurisdiction the road falls under:
- County-certified gravel roads are maintained by the county road commissions (Wayne, Oakland, Macomb).
- Residential dirt streets inside cities or villages are generally handled by the local city or township public works (DPW) department.
Where should we go next?
If you have a pothole location you want to share, please use the link below to upload it to MIPics. We’ll use these submissions to decide where we should go next.