Driveway Dilemma For Woman Who Needs To Leave Her Home For Dialysis
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's hard to leave the house when your driveway looks like a disaster.
One elderly woman tells CBS 2 she was trapped for weeks by an unfinished construction project.
CBS 2's Marissa Parra called the city of Chicago to track down some answers.
Three times a week, 85-year-old Arlene Wilder heads off to treatment. Her kidneys are failing and it's hard for her to stand. So she has to use a walker. Just outside her home is another problem.
"I'm kind of at a standstill. I'm exasperated about it," Wilder said.
This jigsaw puzzle of tarp and dirt is a driveway.
"She cannot come out her front door because there's all kinds of debris here. There's a section missing, so she'd have to walk on the grass," said concerned neighbor Arlene Labriola.
Neighbors said it's been like this for three weeks. It's an eyesore, a nuisance and a hazard.
"I don't know why this section of concrete was broken up and framed and the contractors just left," Labriola said. "They never came back the next day or two days later to pour the concrete and I don't understand why not?"
The work originally began to fix a crack in the pavement. The city said the project is supposed to add improved accessibility.
But now Arlene can't get to her car at all.
"Her car is held captive now. She can't get out," said Labriola.
CBS 2 caught up with Arlene as she was headed out for her treatment for the day, one of three for the week.
Within hours of making calls to the alderman's office and the Chicago Department of Transportation, CBS 2 returned to Arlene's driveway to find a contractor knocking on Arlene's door to pick up where they left off weeks ago.
"I'd like to have my sidewalk the way it was before," Wilder said. "Even when it was cracked it was better than this."
CDOT said the icy cold weather is partly to blame. The agency said there are roughly 35 sidewalks around the city pending completion at various stages because of the weather.
