Pothole-Plagued, Uneven Streets Leave Irving Park Neighbors Fit To Be Tied

CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's a bumpy ride in the Irving Park community, where longtime residents say they are fed up with their pothole-laden streets and the damage they are doing to their cars.

On Monday night, CBS 2's Tara Molina took the rough ride through the neighborhood.

The source of the concern is potholes and rocky, uneven roads. People who live in the area are tired of it, and they have waited and waited for a fix.

So Molina took their complaints to the city.

CBS 2 drove down side streets in the area Monday night with a camera attached to our truck's front plate. There were bumps, dips, and cracks in the sidewalk.

"You can see how dangerous it is! It's rough," said lifelong resident Nick Carusi. "Ice hits it, it really freezes up."

And all over the street, there are potholes that Carusi calls all too familiar.

"It's not just here and there – it's every couple of feet," he said. "Be very careful when you're driving. These are very dangerous streets. You could fall in a hole."

Carusi told us he has been waiting and waiting on a fix for his neighborhood's streets for some time now.

"It was supposed to have already been done," he said.

But the construction project on the water main at Kimball and Cuyler avenues taking longer than expected.

Carusi is not alone in his frustration.

"People are damaging their cars!" he said.

We took our concerns to Ald. Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd), who told us the project is part of the hold-up.

She explained, "While the contractors prefer to wait to complete all of the projects before they begin repaving the streets, we have requested that the contractors move forward on repaving the streets that are completed."

Rodriguez-Sanchez continued, "We ask that residents let the office know if there is any form of temporary relief that we can request to address the frustrations of residents living on these blocks."

We reached out to other city departments about these issues, and the timeline on the projects in the area. When they respond, we'll update this story.