Dozens of slide-offs on Portage Road

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- An icy road and hidden drop off is resulting in numerous wrecks on Portage Road. Police said Saturday night there were twelve slide-offs between Auten and Bertrand.



Mark Haney said, “This is the worst winter I’ve seen in 15 to 20 years."



Residents who live on Portage Road are asking St. Joseph County for a flashing sign to warn drivers of the drop-off that is covered in snow.



Charr Sarratore said, “We are going to have a fatality out here. Between Auten and Bertrand please slow down. Go between 15 and 20 miles per hour, because when the weather is bad, it’s a high accident area.”



Drivers slide on the ice, one tire goes into the crevice, they overcorrect and end up in a ditch or someone's front yard. This ongoing problem on Portage Road has neighbors upset.



Candace Stone said, “Somebody is going to get killed. It's so dangerous."



Residents are worried that a car is going to slide into their home.



Sarratore said, “We’re sitting there watching tv, and they drove right through our front yard over here to the corner of our driveway where it drops off. They flipped over on their side, the car fell back down, they got their composure and took off."



Neighbors have called the St. Joseph County Highway department but nothing has been done.



Although the roads are salted and plowed, drivers don't know about the drop-off by their homes. Stone has seen 20 slide-offs recently.



Stone said, "Every year we lose a mailbox So I got a garbage can put it on a stick and there ya go."



One man who has lived on Portage for 30 years said with the new subdivisions and a large shopping center, the road is always bustling with traffic.



Mark Haney said, “I don’t know if there would be an alternate route… unless you go all the way over to 933 or to the bypass.”



On Sunday ABC57 left a voicemail with St. Joseph County's Engineering department and we are waiting to hear back.