According to the city, it's been a good year for filling potholes. That is, the number of reported potholes last month decreased over the same time frame in 2009. more ›

With the cold and wet weather of late, it's just a matter of time before we start hearing about all the potholes around town. But reader Dave tells us about the trouble he had with an alley speed bump in his neighborhood, and the frustrating lack of action by the city to solve the problem. From the Chicagoist Tipline: more ›

If there's a silver lining to the long stretch of frigid weather we've had this season, it's that there's been a limit to the freeze-thaw cycles. In fact, this is really our first thaw in three weeks. And that means fewer potholes on city streets to swallow up our cars and bikes. Of course, it's only mid-January; the real freeze-thaw cycle won't start until into mid-March. Still, that's not stopping the city's Department of Transportation from bragging about the lack of potholes so far and the new, tougher material used on the roads that are proving more resistant to potholes. The Tribune notes that last year the city spent $35 million in stimulus money to repave 31 miles of arterial streets (we bet the streets the IOC traveled last spring are still looking nice). The city's stats say that 12,000 less potholes have been filled so far this winter (45,000 last year compared to 33,000 this year) but, as we noted, there's a long way to go. Come back to us in April when people are putting trashcans in potholes as safety measures and we'll discuss this new "resistant" material then. more ›

We know our potholes are awful and sometimes bigger media outlets tell us so. This time around, it's travel website Gadling ranking our potholes as among the worst in the world. Second, actually, behind the potholes of Harare, Zimbabwe. Says the website over our Swiss cheese roads: "Chicago is on par with many third world countries when it comes to road repairs." We beg to differ: our potential 2016 Olympic sites have some of the quickest, most thorough pothole repairs of potential 2016 Olympic sites anywhere. Suck it, Rio! [via Second City Cop] more ›

Reader Michael Hetrick sent in this pictures of the city's (or a resident's) attempts to fight the potholes at Inner Lake Shore Drive and Roscoe, yet even if it was a joke, it seems oddly appropriate. more ›

Gov. Quinn and Mayor Daley announced yesterday that the city of Chicago will be receiving $200 million to repair potholes and make street repairs. The money will be enough for 100 miles of street and bridge repairs. The state is pitching in $40 million, which the City can leverage to get another $150 from the federal government. more ›

Following up on their successful pothole repair project in Louisville, Kentucky, KFC is offering to fix potholes nationwide. KFC president Roger Eaton has sent a letter to the nation's mayors, including Chicago's offering to fix our roads in exchange for free advertising. KFC's promotion involves a private road crew and an actor dressed as the Colonel, fixing potholes and then spraying "Re-Freshed by KFC" on the repair, promoting their claim of using fresh chicken in their dishes. While Chicago prohibits advertising on city streets because they may cause distraction, and therefore a safety hazard, the city hasn't ruled out using the Colonel's services just yet. more ›

Yesterday's "revelation" that roads near proposed Olympic venues are getting preferential pothole repair treatment is now allegedly raising the ire of alderman. Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th). Jackson took Transportation Commissioner Thomas Byrne to task for giving Olympic-related streets precedence, wondering if Byrne had "been forced to do something like this because of an Olympics that we may or may not get." more ›

We all know about the massive potholes cropping up across the city. And we know how important the upcoming International Olympic Committee visit is to Mayor Daley's the City of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. And this is why we're not surprised in the least that proposed Olympic venue sites are getting first crack at pothole repairs. When the Trib writes, "The work raised questions for some who fear taxpayers will suffer as the city directs scarce resources toward impressing Olympic officials," our knee-jerk reaction is: Really? Who didn't see this coming? Transportation Department spokesman Brian Steele even admitted, "We wanted to hit some of the streets near the planned Olympic venues before the IOC visit." more ›

News Flash - Chicago has a pothole problem. Ok, anyone who drives (or walks . . . or looks out their window) can see that, but apparently it’s reached new highs this year. CBS2 is reporting that the city has taken notice of over 7,000 unfilled potholes, and that’s just the ones that have been reported. Thomas Byrne, the Department of Transportation Commissioner, reports that crews are now working 7 days a week, filling 3,000-4,000 potholes every day, but they are barely making a dent in the problem. About a month ago, CBS also reported that these pothole patches sometimes only survive a few days. more ›

We almost missed this silliness last week: county highway workers have been ordered to observe a "no-drive" day every other Wednesday to cut fuel costs. Barring an emergency, Cook County Highway Department crews, the same people that fix potholes around the county, stay at the garage twice a month to do other, non-driving odd jobs. Highway Supt. Rupert Graham says the policy is modeled after Illinois Department of Transportation schedule. IDOT keeps most crews off the road once a week to do maintenance work around garages or to attend training. Graham told the Sun-Times that the department is trying to be "smarter than they have in the past in how we use our fuel." County commissioner Forrest Claypool doesn't see it that, way, saying "we've known about [high] fuel prices for a long time, but people still use roads for their daily lives. People still pay taxes to maintain roads," Claypool said. "Salaries for workers who aren't working on the roads is a far larger expense than savings from unused gasoline. It's fuzzy thinking at best." more ›