‘Band-Aid’: City of Cleveland replaces guardrail where truck slammed into house but residents say it’s not enough

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Ohio Department of Transportation is looking into the issue of cars and trucks plowing into Cleveland homes off the I-90 exit ramp at West Boulevard.

“We understand and share the resident’s concerns and are reviewing crash reports for the area. Our safety engineers are working to identify potential solutions to raise motorist awareness to the traffic signal at the bottom of the ramp when exiting eastbound I-90 onto West Blvd,” said Amanda McFarland, spokeswoman, ODOT.

Neighbors on one stretch of West Boulevard in Cleveland say their patience is at the end of the road due to speeding cars and trucks on the I-90 exit ramp having repeatedly slammed into their homes and yards.

On Saturday afternoon, Sherry Heart’s home in the 3000 block of West Boulevard was hit for the fourth time. This time by a truck she says ran the red light as he came down the exit, destroyed the guardrail and then barreled into her home, taking out her porch, and causing structural damage. Heart says just minutes before the crash family members were actually sitting on the porch that was destroyed, “He could have killed a lot of people,” she said.

The dramatic crash was caught on Heart’s surveillance camera. The driver survived the crash but was pinned in the truck and had to be pulled out through the window. Heart says he just missed her gas meter.

She says along with her home being hit by cars and trucks 4 times, the guardrail that sits as a barrier in front of her home has been destroyed 43 times because of accidents. “Mentally this is too much, and how do I sell my house? Morally, how do I sell my house? I would never wish this on somebody.”

19 News reached out to ODOT last year asking about the I-90 exit ramp and West Boulevard and the problem with cars crashing into homes, at the time ODOT said they didn’t think there was a problem.

Today, a spokeswoman said it’s up to the city of Cleveland to maintain West Boulevard.

Monday morning, a crew replaced the guardrail, but residents say it’s a band-aid to a larger problem: they want officials to stop passing the buck and act before someone dies.

19 News reached out to Ward 11 Councilman Brian Mooney for solutions but at the time of broadcast, he had not returned calls or messages.

This story is developing and will be updated.

Copyright 2022 WOIO. All rights reserved.