Is Ford City Drive Chicago's Forgotten Road?

CHICAGO (CBS)—Lined with potholes, uneven pavement, and other unpleasantness, Chicago's Ford City Drive is anything but smooth; but the city says nothing can be done to fix the crumbling roadway.

Emotions run high when resident Sylvester Moore talks about the condition of the road.

"I live here," he said, his voice breaking up.

CBS 2 first visited the road about six months ago, and little has been done since then to fix the problem.

Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th) said maps show Ford City Drive falls outside of Chicago boundaries, and his hands are tied in the matter.

"The city itself can't take city dollars to fix a private road," Curtis said.

Standing by a fallen light pole, Moore said, "This is literally on the fence."

"If it falls, I don't know if the electricity will go through the pole. I don't know if it's going to electrify the fence. I don't know. I'm not an electrician," he added.

ComEd says it can't fix the light pole because it's on private property.

The problems don't end with the road. The Ford City Drive bridge that runs over busy Pulaski Road is characterized as "poor" and "intolerable" on the Illinois Department of Transportation website.

IDOT says it doesn't own the bridge, however.

The crumbling bridge belongs to a "private entity" that doesn't exist.

Someone at IDOT is paying attention, however, because the bridge is scheduled to be torn down; but at an unknown date.

The City Colleges of Chicago plans to fix their section of Ford City Drive at the campus of Richard J. Daley College sometime this summer, but the repair plan doesn't cover Moore's stretch of the roadway.

"I can't call the city, wrong people to call," Moore said. "I can't call the alderman, wrong guy to call. I can't speak to ComEd, wrong people to call."

A City Colleges spokesperson said the school already patched part of Ford City Drive late last fall.

The spokesperson said the Board of Trustees approved the repair and repaving of their section earlier this month.