Sunken Catch Basin Continues To Grow, City Has Not Responded To Fix
CHICAGO (CBS) – A viewer called CBS for help after watching a hole on the city's South Side get worse for months.
In this Original Report, we sent CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez to 87th Street in the Chatham neighborhood to check it out.
What's the issue?
The issue is the catch basin has sunk several inches below the street. But there is some good news - a temporary solution put in place on Tuesday.
What started as a dip in the road has turned into a crater on a busy Southside street. With cars, vans, and buses lurching into this sinking catch basin.
"I called 311 like you're supposed to do and reported it," said Chris Hicks.
That was in October, followed by several other calls that went something like this.
"We have a really big hole out here," Hicks said. "A structure has collapsed and if somebody drives over it they're going to damage their car or if somebody steps in it they're going to hurt themselves."
Each call was met with a text message, month after month, all documented on Hicks phone. Yet the hole just got deeper.
Hicks is frustrated.
"I understand it's a big city and they have a lot of things, but somethings are more pressing than others," Hicks said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Water management told CBS 2 it receives 14,000 calls like this each year, and "may have had to let it go over the winter." They said with the arrival of spring, "crews are getting back out."
And within hours of CBS 2's call, a crew pulled up and placed a large metal plate over the danger zone.
There is no word on when a permanent replacement will be in place, but Chris Hicks is pleased action is being taken.
