Lady Sues Transport Authority for Traffic.

Carol Greenberg of Perrysburg estimates she sat in traffic with her cat Sammy for 50 minutes while driving home from a veterinary visit in a northern Detroit suburb.

Stuck in a work-zone backup on southbound I-275 at its merge with I-75 in Monroe County late last month, she did more than just fume about it.
First, she sent the Michigan Department of Transportation an e-mail complaint. Then the Perrysburg resident did something many motorists probably consider but rarely, if ever, do.

Mrs. Greenberg sent MDOT a $16 bill for the gasoline she figured she'd wasted idling in traffic.

"Thousands of vehicles from both Interstates, including mine, sat an estimated 50 minutes, wasting thousands of dollars worth of $4-per-gallon gasoline, belching tons of emissions into the atmosphere," she wrote.

Rob Morosi, a department spokesman in Detroit, said, "We usually get damage claims about stones kicked up from the roadway or overspray from painting I have never heard of anyone being compensated for the loss of gasoline."

Mrs. Greenberg said in an interview that the delay was doubly unpleasant for her Maine coon cat, Sammy, who howled through the entire experience in a pet carrier in the back seat.

Even before getting a response from MDOT, Mrs. Greenberg estimated her chance of getting her "bill" paid was zero - "I just sent it in to vent about it" - and in that regard, the state didn't surprise her.

"It is not MDOT's policy to reimburse motorists for lost time, wages, or gas when traveling through or near a work zone. Please understand, if we paid out for one, we would have to pay out for all and that is simply not feasible," MDOT's Kari Arend wrote to Mrs. Greenberg.