Exposed Railroad Spikes on Taylor Road Blow Out Tires, Prompting City to Change Repair Methods

What began as a quick trip to pick up dinner turned into a costly headache for a Taylor driver Wednesday night, after exposed construction spikes on Goddard Road shredded one of his tires.

Tyler King was driving near Telegraph Road when he hit a patch of metal plates covering utility work in the roadway. "You could hear a big pop and all the air whooshing or rushing out," King said. "It was the last sound I wanted to hear."

The hazard came from heavy-duty railroad spikes used to anchor steel plates over open trenches. Drivers in the area reported that several of the metal spikes were sticking up inches out of the pavement, creating a danger that passing motorists could not easily see.

For King, the blowout arrived at an unwelcome moment. "It's pretty irritating," he said, explaining that with money tight and prices high, spending what he estimated at a minimum of $100 for a new tire and installation was, in his words, "not exactly in the budget this month."

King pulled into a nearby gas station to put on his spare and quickly realized he was not the only victim. While he was removing his tire, a blue SUV suffered the same fate. "I heard the exact same sound like all the air leaving," King recalled. "They did the same thing, hung around on Telegraph, and pulled in." That made two shredded tires at the same location within about five minutes.

King's wife posted about the incident on Facebook, and the post caught the attention of Taylor City Councilman Gerald Thomas late Wednesday night. "So I got out of bed, got dressed, came over here, and I put cones over the spikes until they could come out here and correct the problem in the morning," Thomas said.

Thomas said the spikes and steel plates were installed by contractor Miller Pipeline, which has been working on a gas line project along Goddard Road. After learning about the tire damage, the city engineer contacted the job site foreman to address the situation.

According to Thomas, the contractor is taking responsibility for the damage caused to the King family's vehicle and is going to reimburse them. "As far as I know, yes, absolutely," Thomas said.

The city is also changing how contractors secure metal plates in active work zones going forward. Thomas said the city engineer told him crews will use asphalt instead of railroad spikes to hold the plates in place from now on.

WXYZ reached out to Miller Pipeline for comment on the incident but had not received a response. Thomas encouraged any driver who suffered tire or wheel damage after driving over the steel plates on Goddard Road near Telegraph on Wednesday night to contact his office directly at gthomas@cityoftaylormi.gov.