Chicago Is Falling Behind In Pothole Patching, Streetlight Repair

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 8, 2014 5:50PM



Noah Vaughn

Now that Chicago is emerging from its frozen state and more seasonable temperatures are on the way we can expect pothole season to reach its peak stage in short order. The new divots in the asphalt can join the growing list of potholes the city needs to patch.

There’s cause for concern here. An audit of the Chicago Department of Transportation’s 311 service request performance from the years 2010 through 2012 indicated CDOT wasn’t doing the bang-up job it claimed in fixing potholes or broken streetlights. CDOT has a self-imposed target of seven days between when a pothole is reported and when it should be fixed. The OIG audit found 26 percent of pothole repairs exceeded that timetable. Street light repairs fared slightly better, with only 24 percent of streetlight repairs exceeding CDOT’s timetable of four days between request and completion. The dates are noteworthy because the Emanuel administration is fond of subtly blaming its predecessors for ongoing problems without actually saying “we’re cleaning Rich Daley’s mess here.”

Chicagoans are simple and only want its government agencies to capably provide basic services like trash pickup, street cleaning, pothole repair and working streetlights. Yet two blocks north of my home is a pothole that has steadily grown in width and depth since last summer and now is home to a street cone, a safety easel and possibly a family of opossum. All it needs is some antimatter inside and it could become a black hole.

The report from Inspector General Joseph Ferguson’s office also indicated CDOT is fudging the numbers on pothole and streetlight performance metrics. According to the audit, 53 percent of all pothole and broken streetlight requests aren’t reported which means when Emanuel’s press office sends out one of its statements claiming that he’s “Building a Better Chicago” he’s also letting the current one fall into a serious—and obvious—state of disrepair.

“Inaccurate or incomplete reporting of performance data as found here may undermine the very public confidence and trust that transparency mechanisms intend to foster,” Ferguson wrote.

CDOT spokesman Peter Scales told the Sun-Times the department uses “weekly management reports” to monitor its own performance and is constantly striving to improve its performance in responding to pothole and broken streetlight requests.