CINCINNATI - A Mount Adams business owner is cleaning up after a semi slammed into her shop Wednesday.
People in the neighborhood say this isn't the first time they've had to deal with a semi stuck on their narrow, hilly streets.
The lost driver started to turn the wrong way down a one-way street and bashed the building.
”He said, ‘You won't believe the damage,’” said Pat Sheppard, owner of Mount Adams Bar and Grill.
It took nearly four hours for police and firefighters to get the stuck semi out of Mount Adams. But not before it bagged a tea bar and boutique and toppled a power pole.
”I was just appalled when I saw the destruction,” Sheppard said.
“This has gone on for years. Three or four of us will run out and will literally tell the truck, 'Stop here, you'll never make the corner.'
Then, just like firefighters and police officers did Wednesday night, they have to help direct the truck back down the hill.
Sheppard and others have asked the city to put up signs leading into Mount Adams banning trucks.
“If there was a sign at the bottom of the entrance saying there are no semis allowed and there would be a fine, that would certainly startle the truck driver.” Sheppard said.
Sheppard says the problem has gotten worse in recent months because of construction on Interstate 71 at the Lytle Tunnel.
“The GPS has no idea how tight these streets are.” Sheppard said.
We called the trucking company involved. Ozark Motor Lines. They would only say the crash is under investigation. Police say the driver had been on the job for three weeks.
I feel bad for them because they literally end up (stuck here),” Sheppard said.
Damage to Tohi Tea Bar in Mount Adams. Semi couldn't make the tight left turn. @WCPO pic.twitter.com/v6C84WTdl4
— Ally Kraemer (@AllyKraemer) April 6, 2017
Firefighters watched closely as the man backed down Louden Street because a fire hydrant was stuck underneath the semi. By 5 a.m., they had backed the truck one block to the intersection with Paradrome Street.
Officers had to run the plates of cars parked on both sides of the street to try and find some drivers who might live in the neighborhood so they could move the cars.
By 6:30 a.m., the driver had successfully exited the neighborhood and was on his way.
