Why are the Streets of Evanston so terrible for cycling?

Potholes and cracks galore. I'm curious why the streets are in such dismal condition in a town which is quite affluent. I've noticed this over the years. In particular, Chicago (Clark) and Sheridan Roads are in really bad shape. Ironically, Dodge St (basically California St), which is located in the "rough" part of town, has fresh new pavement and is in excellent condition.

I know this is Chicago forum, but it's hard to distinguish Oak Park and Evanston from Chicago.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 5, 2012 at 12:19am

I grew up in Evanston, still have plenty of friends there. My dad was living there until a few years ago, so I had plenty of close encounters with street closures for sewer reconstruction and all.

Charlie Short said:

I agree Anne, they just don't do a lot of constituent education. I'm from Evanston, so I have many memories of fun Evanston sewer projects.

Anne Alt said:

They started doing that back in the 1980s after a sewer collapse created a huge sinkhole that ate an intersection. Evanston has been doing big utility projects each year in various parts of town, where they do sewer replacement and whatever else needs to be done before repaving. There's a lot to be said for getting it all done at once, instead of the stupid failure to coordinate that we see over and over again here in Chicago.

Charlie Short said:

Evanston often wraps multiple projects together when it comes to infrastructure. Sheridan Rd, Dodge and Lincoln come to mind. The streets usually get all of the utility upgrading and the resurfacing they need at the same time. This means streets get terrible before anything gets done, but on the upside, you don't have the kind of new surfaces that get ripped up like in Chicago. Try to ride south on Sheridan in Chicago right now; new street, terrible conditions for bikes.