ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — 7 News Anchor Jeff Russo has been reaching out to the New York State Department of Transportation since Tuesday trying to get answers about the cause of a series of mysterious tire punctures on State Route 219 near Armor Duells Road. We will continue to update this story as we learn more.
UPDATE — Tuesday, August 15: The New York State Department of Transportation tells 7 News no defects were found in the roadway or bridge structures on the portion of Route 219 where drivers complained of punctured tires after it spent two days inspecting the area.
7 News reached out to the NYSDOT twice on Tuesday about possible reimbursement for those impacted but did not receive a response.
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UPDATE — Monday, August 14: Another viewer reached out to 7 News complaining of yet another punctured tire, on the same stretch of the 219 near Armor Duells Road. This happened on Saturday.
7 News Anchor Jeff Russo and photographer Rob Neves went back to the impacted area of the 219 where NYSDOT crews appeared to be doing work on the shoulder of the road.
7 News received a statement from a NYSDOT spokesperson late Monday afternoon saying:
"The safety and convenience of the traveling public are always top priorities for the New York State Department of Transportation and in an abundance of caution, NYSDOT maintenance crews on Monday began further inspection along State Route 219 in the Armor Duells area."
Anchor Jeff Russo was told that crews are expected to be back on the 219 on Tuesday.
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UPDATE — Friday, August 11: 7 News spoke with New York State Senator Tim Kennedy on Friday, following up on the letter that he sent to NYSDOT Regional Director Frank Cirillo requesting that "NYSDOT immediately investigate the cause of these punctures, remedy any cause that may be found, and work to reimburse repair costs if appropriate."
In an interview Friday Senator Kennedy told 7 News "We've notified the DOT, they've said they are looking into it, but I want to go further. It's very frustrating that anyone should have to deal with this, and if there is anyone that has had a puncture on the 219, in this particular stretch, they should notify the DOT, they should notify my office, and they should also make sure if appropriate they are reimbursed."
7 News has reached back out to the NYSDOT for an update and received this statement:
"The safety of the traveling public is always the top priority of the New York State Department of Transportation and in response to reports of motorists experiencing tire damage our maintenance crews thoroughly inspected the State Route 219 in the Armor Duells area and found no defects in the roadway or on bridge structures. We continue to investigate the matter and have plans to conduct a more detailed inspection of the roadway in the coming days."
In the meantime, if you have sustained damage to your tires on the 219 you can contact:
State Senator Tim Kennedy's Office:
DISTRICT OFFICE
37 Franklin St.
Suite 550
Buffalo, NY 14202
Phone: 716-826-2683
Email: kennedy@nysenate.gov
NYSDOT - General Information (518) 457-6195
NYSDOT Transportation Maintenance
3754 Lakeview Road
Hamburg, NY 14075
(716) 649-2157
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UPDATE — Thursday, August 10: A DOT spokesperson responded on Thursday morning saying "DOT crew responded shortly after we were notified on Tuesday. They patrolled this section of Rt 219 and investigated the potential hazards and found nothing"
It's a response that didn't sit well with Adrienne Moltz, who first contacted 7 News on Tuesday. Moltz is one of more than two dozen individuals who reached out with the same issue concerning flat tires, that happened on the same stretch of the 219.
"They should probably just look again," Moltz told 7 News. Moltz spent more than $1,300 having all of her tires replaced after suffering two punctured tires on Monday night. "Somebody's got to have an answer about what is causing it."
Moltz said not only was she looking for more information from New York State, but also was asking to be reimbursed. "I think all of us should," said Moltz, "I think that if I was just driving by myself and got a flat tire, it happens. I get that. 24 people plus, I'm sure there are others that we don't know about. No, that's not ok"
When pressed on whether New York State would be responsible for the damages a spokesperson released this statement late Thursday.
"Following reports of motorists experiencing tire damage, maintenance crews from the New York State Department of Transportation thoroughly inspected the State Route 219 in the Armor Duells area and found no defects in the roadway or on bridge structures. Without an identified defect or negligence, NYSDOT cannot be held liable."
7 News has reached out to New York State Senator Patrick Gallivan's office to make him aware of the situation to ask if anything could be done and received the following statement. "Our office has reached out to the DOT regarding these incidents in an attempt to identify the cause so that future incidents like this do not occur."
7 News has also reached out to New York State Senator Tim Kennedy, who is the Chair of the Transportation Committee.
In a letter to Regional Director Frank Cirillo, Senator Kennedy says in part, "I respectfully request that NYSDOT immediately investigate the cause of these punctures, remedy any cause that may be found, and work to reimburse costs if appropriate."
You can follow our reporting below.
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UPDATE — Wednesday, August 9: The search for the mysterious hazard along a southtowns highway that has travelers emptying their wallets continues.
7 News has called the state's Department of Transportation multiple times, and has yet to hear back on what is being done to correct the issue that has over a dozen people headed to repair shops.
One of those people is Lindsay Riggs. She spoke with 7 News on Wednesday while her tire was being replaced at Big D Tire Shop in Orchard Park.
"We were heading home from camp, just raking our daily drive home northbound on the 219," said Riggs. "We heard a pop."
The front tire of her SUV was punctured Tuesday evening near Armor Duels Roads. Riggs said she saw absolutely nothing in the road.
"Just punctures. There is no debris or foreign objects in the tires," said Michael Goulding, a sales representative at Big D Tires. "Whatever they are running over is stationary in the road."
While we wait to hear from the NYSDOT about what this suspected stationary object could be, 7 News reached out to AAA to learn what people should do on the insurance side.
"The big thing to do would be to call your insurance claims department as soon as you know that there's an issue," said David Kirst, senior insurance specialist for AAA. "Depending on the amount of fixing of the tire, you may not necessarily want to go through that insurance process."
Kirst reminds people that everyone's situation is different, so weigh a deductible against repair or replacement costs.
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Original story — Tuesday, August 8: Adrienne Moltz of Orchard Park was driving her son home from hockey practice on Monday night when the unexpected happened.
"I got off the 219, onto Armor Duells, and both my driver side tires went flat," Moltz tells 7 News Anchor Jeff Russo, "you could hear the hissing, and it went right down to the rims."
Moltz says she didn't see anything in the road but did notice she wasn't the only one with the issue.
"There was a car on the on-ramp of the 219, who was there with police, who had a flat tire. I'm like 'Oh my God, that stinks, it's night, it's dark', and then ten seconds later it was me," said Moltz.
Moltz, who lives a short distance away, was able to make it home, but with both of her driver's side tires now flat, her truck needed to be towed. That's when she realized that something strange was going on.
"I put a thing on Facebook, saying like 'Hey, how's your night? Flat tires,' and people started sharing saying 'Yes, me too. Oh, same spot' "
It turns out several people have similar stories, all dealing with flat tires, all happening in the same area.
7 News posted about the issue on Facebook and multiple people responded that they had the same thing happen to them.
"I've never seen anything like this before," said Michael Goulding, a Sales Representative at Big "D" Tire Shop in Orchard Park. "I obviously see many flat repairs in a day of business, but never, never such a coincidence of that many all of the same times."
Goulding tells 7 News that he had nine vehicles in his shop as of Tuesday afternoon all with both driver-side tires punctured. Goulding says his customers are telling him that their flat tires happened in the same area of the 219 right near Armor Duells Road.
"Something is stationary in the road, and it appears to me it's somehow fixed to the road because if it was small, like a board with a nail in it, you would think it would move after all these tires were striking it, but whatever it is, it's staying stationary in the road," said Goulding.
7 News drove on that stretch of the 219 and found nothing.
"Clearly something is not right," said Moltz, who as of Tuesday afternoon was still waiting to hear about the status of her truck. "I think about 8 people since 10 pm (Monday) night had said, and they had shared with me, people saying the same thing, around the same area, around the same time."
In our search to get answers 7 News stopped by Orchard Park Police, but the chief was unavailable.
We also emailed Erie County, who told us this was a state construction zone, but there was no sign of construction while we were there.
