Durham woman says steep Save A Lot driveway caused hundreds of dollars in damage to her car

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- A trip to the Save A Lot store off N. Alston and Liberty streets in Durham resulted in car damage for Geneva Melton.

"I'm really, really upset," Melton said. "It did a lot of scrape damage underneath the bottom."

And the Durham resident isn't the only one reporting issues from the construction there.

Jamel McBean, of Durham, said he drove up that driveway last week.

"As you're going up, you can't really see what's on the other side," McBean said.

"It would definitely damage your vehicle," he said.

"We've received some complaints about that driveway and when we went out to look at it, we did notice that there was a problem and are working with the contractor to get that fixed," NCDOT spokesman Marty Homan said.

"The department has a project to widen and improve Alston Avenue from the Durham Freeway up to Holloway Street," Homan said.

Anyone who has experienced car damage there can fill out a claim form on NCDOT's website.

Homan said contractor Zachry Construction Corporation will be responsible for the claim processing and paying claims.

A Zachry Construction Corporation spokesperson told ABC11 that their number one concern is the safety of the traveling public and they're working with the NCDOT on a resolution to the design, which NCDOT comes up with. They're working as quickly as they can on a resolution, the spokesperson said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Homan said they still hadn't received any claims, which need to be mailed in.

Melton said she is submitting her claim and hopes the contractor will pay for the repairs she said will cost hundreds of dollars. She said she can't afford it since she just got furloughed from her job.

"I don't want to cry," Melton said, "But it's been that stressful to where, you know, you feel like breaking down in tears because of just so much. Then to have this happen, it's like a ton of bricks dropping on you."

They've closed the Liberty Street entrance but there are two other driveways to access the store. Homan said they hope to fix the entrance by next week.