Emanuel Orders Citywide Audit Of Street Repaving
By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 7, 2014 11:05PM
Mayor Rahm Emanuel called for a citywide audit of repaved streets in Chicago and whether slipshod work from private contractors contributed to the epidemic of potholes this winter after a senior alderman complained about the condition of a recently repaved section of street.
Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), chairwoman of the City Council Budget Committee, informed the Chicago Department of Transportation of cracks along several sections of Wentworth Avenue that were repaved last year. New Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld said inspectors confirmed Austin’s complaints. “There are cracks occurring at the seams along the center line of the street where two sections of paving come together,” Scheinfeld told the Sun-Times.
“There are cracks out there that we think the contractor should be responsible for repaving at their expense. It starts with a crack, and a crack turns into a pothole. Water gets in, freezes, expands, thaws [and puts pressure on the pavement]. Cracks are not as visible to drivers as potholes. But cracks are the first indication of a problem with the paving.”
This naturally did not sit well with the mayor who loves to talk about how he’s “Building a Better Chicago” and now an audit of 100 miles of arterial streets that were repaved by private contractors has been ordered. Scheinfeld said CDOT will research pothole reports called in to the city’s 311 system and information found on the city’s “pothole tracker” app to determine areas that merit closer scrutiny.
“We will be pursuing contractors aggressively where we think there’s evidence of a failure of workmanship. … Each of these cases we find is going to require unique negotiations to determine” whether financial penalties will be assessed or repaving mandated at contractor’s expense.
City crews have patched over 215,000 potholes to date but, like the Hydra, three seemingly appear when one is patched. More than 280 damage claims related to pothole damage were introduced at February’s City Council meeting, more than any month in the past four years.