Everybody knows that the city's in the hole, but it's the holes the city can't fill that have drivers fuming.
The wild winter weather has left pot holes the size of Rhode Island on some area streets, and the city -- citing a three-year drop-off in state funding for the resurfacing of arterial roads -- says it simply can't afford to make the necessary longterm repairs,
Instead, it is spending $12 million on temporary repair efforts, "which can last as little as days on high-traffic streets," according to the Chicago Tribune.
"The state has a lot of needs, and they surpass the resources," Brian Carlson, the Illinois Department of Transportation's program development section chief for the Chicago region, told the Trib.
He said two severe winters have also taken their toll, adding to the number of roads that need work.
Drivers on Grand Avenue encounter a crater-filled landscape that sends cars to the shop and drivers to their cell phones to call in their complaints.
"There are more pot holes than actual pavement down here on Grand Avenue," one driver said Tuesday morning.
"They should close Grand Avenue up there ... it's like Swiss cheese," another man said.
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Cicero Avenue is also in terrible shape, and a hazard to drivers.
There were reports of 11,000 open potholes in the 311 system Monday, the highest mark this year, CDOT spokesman Brian Steele told the Tribune.
City pothole repairs have been at full throttle since January, filling thousands each day, seven days a week. Yet the numbers continue to climb,
So, as Chicagoans look forward to spring, it's best they keep their eyes on the road. Those pot holes are more likely to fill with spring showers than with the most costly asphalt.
