Potholes Across Chicago
The City of Chicago has always dealt with many issues throughout the years. One major issue that residents constantly speak up about is the number of potholes that are in the city.
It seems that instead of them going away, more and more are created. It almost seems that the more residents speak on this issue, the less the government does about it.
Additionally, there have been some residents that continue to contact the city of Chicago to get a pothole problem fixed, but most of the time to no avail. This leads to a lot of frustration among the residents of Chicago, as they feel they are not being heard. This issue can lead to many major accidents, especially on the freeway. Therefore, these inquiries carry as much importance as any other.
Resident Experiences Neglect From the City
A woman who lives in Chatham is experiencing an issue regarding a pothole that sits directly in front of her home. “A hole in front of a Chatham house has been widening for years. The homeowner tried calling the city, her alderman, but the problem only got deeper,” according to CBS Chicago. Clearly, as she has tried contacting several representatives, no one has done anything to rid that pothole from being in front of her house.
“It has gotten bigger and bigger over time and it is super dangerous,” stated the homeowner herself. She is one of many victims who have experienced neglect from the City of Chicago, and therefore rely on others to spread the word.
Is There a Way to Contact the City to Get the Potholes Fixed?
There are many ways in which a person can contact the city to get a pothole problem resolved in their neighborhood, or anywhere around Chicago. The best way is by going directly to the City of Chicago’s website. Once on their website, people will need to specify exactly which kind of pothole it is.
There are different kinds of potholes that people could encounter across the city. It could either be a sinkhole, or a utility cut. Most of the time, however, it is a regular pothole that just needs to be filled in.
“Please include the location of the pothole when making the request,” states the City of Chicago. Location is especially important, because without the location once requested, nothing will be done, and therefore the pothole will not be filled in or removed.
However, there is a lot of traffic to the website. Therefore, a person’s request may be seen at a later date. However, people may wait for quite some time for their request to be seen. As aforementioned with the woman from Chatham, waiting may not be an option, therefore contacting them several times is certainly a viable option.
Is Filling Potholes Enough for Chicago?
There are some residents who are in favor of filling potholes being enough for the city of Chicago. On the other hand, there are many residents who disagree. “As city crews continue to work to fill potholes in Chicago, residents in the Calumet Heights neighborhood say it’s not enough,” stated NBC 5 News.
WindyCity Weather and News tweeted, “Rain. In the heart of #winter in #Chicago. I hate rain in winter. A wet Thursday morning commute. Play the Chicago driver’s guessing game; Puddles or flooded potholes?” Another person posted on Twitter: “I have pothole PTSD from driving in Chicago.”
One person on Twitter posed a very interesting question: “The greedy Chicago Mayor said in an NPR interview she wants to keep Chicago cameras that stole money from brown and black communities. Chicago is the only Illinois city to use speed cameras. There are 160 of them and (they) generate more than 1 million dollars. Why so many potholes?”
There are certainly many other issues that plague the streets of Chicago, and potholes are not the only ones. However, the city needs to continue working to clear its streets of any potholes or sinkholes. These obstacles impede drivers from fully being able to focus while driving and may be the cause of a major accidents in the future.
The Future of Potholes in Chicago
Many Chicago residents feel that the city will do nothing to fix the pothole situation. Numerous individuals believe that Chicago purposefully ignores their requests, as they may have other “important” matters at hand to attend to.
Residents are hopeful that the pothole problem will not persist for much longer. In the meantime, many urge to continue reporting the potholes, until the City of Chicago finally does something major to rid the city of its potholes.
Written by David Loran Jr
Sources:
City of Chicago: Pothole in the Street
CBS Chicago: Chatham woman complains for years about ‘super dangerous’ pothole
NBC 5 Chicago: Residents Say Filling Potholes Won’t Fix City Street Problem
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Urban Shocker’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Mariano Mantel’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
