Enormous Pothole On Irving Park Road Was First Reported 6 Months Ago, But Keeps Growing
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A beast of a pothole lurks on Irving Park Road just east of the six-way intersection with Lincoln and Damen avenues, and it has been growing for months.
The only fix from the city is temporary.
On Monday night, CBS 2's Tara Molina took residents' safety concerns straight to the alderman.
People say the pothole in the roadway outside 1933 W. Irving Park Rd. in the Northcenter community isn't even a pothole anymore. It is three times bigger than it was when they first reported months ago.
So why mark it and leave it that way?
"This is an accident waiting to happen," said David Louis, who reported the pothole.
As it is, an orange cone and a sawhorse barricade warn drivers and bikers to stay away from the growing hole. But it is busy Irving Park Road, and Louis said they don't last long.
"They last about 24 hours and they get knocked down," he said.
Indeed, pieces of that sawhorse barricade and that cone were buried in the hole. But what was more surprising to Louis – who lives nearby and looks at the pothole every day – is the lack of a real fix from the city.
He said he first reported the pothole to the city and the alderman in July.
"It just seems after six months that somebody would have dealt with this," Louis said.
Another man we talked to, off camera, claimed he bottomed out and lost a tire to the crater - but didn't know to report it.
"Somebody is going to really get hurt, or somebody's car is going to get really badly damaged," Louis said.
We took concerns to Ald. Matt Martin (47th). His office got back to us with the following statement:
"Our office has been working with various departments since August regarding this hole. It has been inspected multiple times by several departments to identify the type of hole this is to figure out who is able to act on it. We have made sure that it is on DWM's radar as they go through the work to replace the water main in Irving Park. Our main concern is to ensure that this is addressed ahead of IDOT's planned resurfacing of the road in the summer. We are confident that this will be addressed — we are actively engaging departmental actors on the matter (including a meeting this week)."
But after six months of waiting already, and the pothole growing, Louis said he thinks the city could be doing more.
"Maybe a plate could be the way to go for the time being," he said.
Molina reached out to city departments about the pothole and had not heard back late Monday.