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The ambulance was almost on Sietynos Street in the center of Panevėžys, and the driver and medical staff were afraid that one day they would get their wheels stuck in a pothole while driving to the scene of an accident.
Life-saving medical personnel must hold on to the car-mounted equipment with their hands. When vehicles drive over potholes in Sietynos streets, there is a risk of collision or misalignment.
Car Damage
Rūta Ramoškienė, head of the Panevěž branch of the emergency medical service, estimates that ambulances make 200 trips a day on Sitinos Street. According to the branch manager, every exit can cause damage to cars with extremely sensitive and important medical equipment.
“Sietyno Street is in the city center, but its condition is probably the worst in Panevěž. It’s pothole after pothole. Drivers claim that it’s not even possible to get around the pits anymore. No matter how hard you turn the steering wheel, some wheel will get stuck in a pothole,” says R. Ramoškienė.
According to the manager, although no high-speed train on Sitinos Street has left a wheel or broken in a pothole, everyone knows that failures can occur when driving in it.
R. Ramoškienė said that cars need to be repaired frequently, and drivers claim that driving on such streets will undoubtedly accelerate breakdowns.
“Besides, we are an ambulance and our goal is to get help to the patient as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the potholed street stopped us, it became an obstacle, you really can’t rush through such potholes,” said the head of the Panevěž branch of the emergency medical service.
She noted that the section of Sietynos Street from the highway to A. Smetonas Street was particularly bad and “disastrous.”
Motorway drivers who drive across Panevěž claim that the streets of Schetino are the most potholed in the city. Photo by P. Zidonis.
Angry and ashamed
“I wrote to the city more than once asking them to clean that street, and I also made requests verbally. I no longer remember the responses to our letters. It used to happen that, after receiving requests, potholes on Sietynos Street were filled with dry asphalt, but they soon collapsed,” the highway manager said.
R. Ramoškienė stressed that she was very sad when she read the news that Sietyno gatvė was not included in the planned streets of the city center of Panevėžys.
“It is not true, we rarely get the Minister of Health or members of Parliament interested in health care in Panevěž. I can imagine what a bad impression Panevěž must have had of them struggling through such deep holes in front of us. I will not hide it, I myself was ashamed in front of my guests because of the view of potholes on Sitinos Street. It was painful for us because of the potholes and the damage to all the patients we invited. After all, potholes slow down the arrival of medical staff”, R. Ramoškienė consoled himself.
A week ago, she renewed her request to the city to manage the street.
Worry about hardware
Emergency medical specialist Jurgita Petraitienė agrees with the head of the Panevėžys branch of the emergency medical service. She also regrets the loss of life caused by the pothole on Sitinos Street while visiting a patient.
J. Petraitienė shows the defibrillator and other life-saving sensitive medical equipment installed in the ambulance. The doctor explains that when driving through potholes, there is a risk of losing alignment, breaking down or even crashing after falling off the stand. To prevent this from happening, the doctor keeps the equipment while driving along Sietynos Street.
The Panevěžsk branch of the Emergency Medical Services is taking action against the city government to repair Sietynos Street. Photo by P. Zidonis.
Like a slalom race
“It’s not a street, it’s a ladder,” highway driver Egidius said of Sitinos Street.
He has traveled all over Panevėžys on his way to the call, so he said he can confirm: the station where the ambulance is located is the worst in the city.
“The worst by far was Star Street, but they’re starting to fix it,” Egidius said.
Ignace, who was driving on the highway, also complained that driving on Sietynos Street was like a slalom race, where you had to overtake every pothole while rushing. However, according to him, there were so many potholes that it was impossible to get around them no matter which one you fell into.
Drivers remember that a few years ago, there were some spray-painted signs on the cracked asphalt of Sietynos Street. Everyone was happy that it was finally fixed. However, the hope of birth was soon dashed because no one started to clean the street and the written signs were washed away by rain.
Pedestrians are also afraid
Residents of the street are also angry because Sietynos Street has become dangerous because of potholes.
Palma Butkuvienė, who lives near the ambulance station, said she understood that the potholes must be annoying for ambulance drivers because they have to reach patients as quickly as possible.
“You don’t rush through these holes,” P. Butkuvienė believes.
“Sietyno Street is in the city center, but its condition is probably the worst in Panevėžys. It’s pit after pit. Drivers claim that it’s not even possible to drive around these pits anymore.”
R. Ramoškienė
Ona Barkauskienė, another neighbor of the highway, consoled herself by saying that Sitinos Street is also dangerous for pedestrians. According to her, walking on the potholed street without sidewalks carries the risk of falling and getting injured.
“But we haven’t collected signatures to maintain the streets, we haven’t written to the government,” O. Barkauskienė admitted.
Will be repaired next year
Karolina Grubinskienė, Deputy Head of the Urban Infrastructure Department of the Municipality of Panevėžys, said that street infrastructure will be constantly updated as long as finances allow (funds are available).
“We know that the situation on Sietynos Street is very bad, and considering that the emergency medical aid station is located there, we also understand its importance,” K. Grubinskienė stressed.
According to her, the basic rehabilitation of Sietynos Street has been included in the priority list of several important local projects for 2024-2026, which is scheduled to be updated in 2025.
According to K. Grubinskienė, before the basic repairs, cosmetic street repair works will be carried out. They should at least minimally improve the overall condition of the road.
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