The Chainlink

A street pot hole to look out for

Have returned to riding my bike the past few days and have noted how deteriorated the city streets are currently. Pot holes appearing after an extra cold winter with record breaking snow accumulation is to be expected but this is amazing what I seeing this year. This one on northbound Damen Ave at Webester Ave I came close to going into as I was following behind a slow turning car. Recorded this photo on my return trip. Note the fresh gouging in the asphalt from vehicles bottoming out in the hole. Just imagine if a bicyclist were to hit this hole. I passed another one very much the same further along on my path but not sure now what the street was. I guess I'll have to be extra careful to keep my eyes down and up at the same time as I'm cycling on Chicago's streets.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on February 24, 2014 at 2:04pm

That one is certainly among the most dangerous I have seen.  Did you do a 311 report?  Please do for the health and safety of everyone, and attach the photo!

Permalink Reply by Gecko on February 24, 2014 at 2:06pm

Yep, huge potholes everywhere this year.  Always a good idea to keep your eyes moving everywhere, including the street in front of you.  I always have an exit strategy in case I need to swerve or bail out, but I've rarely needed to take extreme action.  I pay close attention to the road surface - the same thing I do when mountain biking, since who knows what lies around that next bend.

Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on February 24, 2014 at 2:25pm

Mr. tencats' pothole wins, but there is a nasty one in the green lane on N/B DesPlaines, just south of Kinzie, that needs to be filled or stocked with trout.

Permalink Reply by Rich S on February 24, 2014 at 2:51pm

Northbound Halsted between North Ave and Fullerton is quite the crater-fest. There's some really nasty potholes and most of them are just to the left of the bike lane where you have to ride because the sidewalk snow has parked cars further left than normal. 

Which leads me to ask ... should a 311 call even be bothered for some of those potholes? They've been there since at least the first week of January so pushing 7+ weeks. I ask because I read somewhere that the city's going to wait until closer to spring before patching up the potholes. So are they aware of some of these and are sitting on their hands until spring or will enough calls get them to come out and fix? 

And so if they are in fact waiting until it's warmer before mass-repairing potholes then what should we do about holes like the one in the OP's pic that require repair asap? I'm happy to place a call or two to 311 if it'll help. 

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on February 24, 2014 at 2:54pm

According to this article they have put more crews on and are working on it now.
 
Rich S said:

Northbound Halsted between North Ave and Fullerton is quite the crater-fest. There's some really nasty potholes and most of them are just to the left of the bike lane where you have to ride because the sidewalk snow has parked cars further left than normal. 

Which leads me to ask ... should a 311 call even be bothered for some of those potholes? They've been there since at least the first week of January so pushing 7+ weeks. I ask because I read somewhere that the city's going to wait until closer to spring before patching up the potholes. So are they aware of some of these and are sitting on their hands until spring or will enough calls get them to come out and fix? 

And so if they are in fact waiting until it's warmer before mass-repairing potholes then what should we do about holes like the one in the OP's pic that require repair asap? I'm happy to place a call or two to 311 if it'll help. 

Permalink Reply by Mike Schwab on February 24, 2014 at 3:18pm



Kevin C said:

Mr. tencats' pothole wins, but there is a nasty one in the green lane on N/B DesPlaines, just south of Kinzie, that needs to be filled or stocked with trout.

Permalink Reply by Mike Schwab on February 24, 2014 at 3:23pm

Oh, Mayor Boris Johnson of London rode his bicycle into a 6 ft puddle, turned out to be much deeper than he thought, and broke his U.S. bicycle.  Maybe a sturdier Boris bicycle would not have broken?

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10642745/Riding-my-broken-...

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on February 24, 2014 at 4:22pm

When I see a hole that big and dangerous unless pressed for time I try and find something large to put in it and mark it; a hole that big is a hazard to all road users.

Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on February 24, 2014 at 4:31pm

Pothole trout?

Kevin C said:

Mr. tencats' pothole wins, but there is a nasty one in the green lane on N/B DesPlaines, just south of Kinzie, that needs to be filled or stocked with trout.

Permalink Reply by Andy J on February 24, 2014 at 4:47pm

Loved Boris's requiem for his ride - aside from the jibe that its only defect was that is was made in California. I couldn't imagine a similar piece coming from the pen of our current Hizzoner.

Mike Schwab said:

Oh, Mayor Boris Johnson of London rode his bicycle into a 6 ft puddle, turned out to be much deeper than he thought, and broke his U.S. bicycle.  Maybe a sturdier Boris bicycle would not have broken?

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10642745/Riding-my-broken-...

Permalink Reply by Rich S on February 24, 2014 at 9:46pm

The big potholes on Halsted have been filled in but it's obvious that it's just a temporary repair. It's still rough enough that I'd rather ride around em but way less hazardous than before. The smaller ones are still there though. 

Lisa Curcio 4.1 mi said:

According to this article they have put more crews on and are working on it now.

Permalink Reply by Sol on February 24, 2014 at 10:37pm

They are cold filling potholes now and will come back in the spring to do more permanent repairs which cannot be done now due to the cold weather, according to an email I received from my alderman (Harry Osterman).

In the email, we were requested/encouraged to report potholes to both his office (if in the 48th ward) so they can follow up with Streets and Sanitation and also to 311 with as specific as possible of an address, location in the street (i.e. near the curb, in the traffic lane where a tire might hit it, etc.) and approximate size.

They are apparently engaging in Triage to figure out how to best apply their limited resources. The last time I saw Chicago streets this bad was when Harold Washington was mayor and the city was flat busted broke and in a horrible recession. Oh wait, that was also the last time we had a winter this bad.

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