Huge crater eating a Chicago alley for years- Resident apathy or City incompetence?

photo of alley pothole turned crater in Chicago
No longer a pothole, this is a crater eating the alley

Here is a crater eating the alley near our home in Albany Park, Chicago.  I had assumed this was a case of Chicago city incompetence, but when I was out photographing it for this blog, I interviewed a few residents and they all said they had never called the city about it.  Two were private home owners whose homes and garages are just feet north of this crater.  One said “We don’t hang out there, so we didn’t call.”  The other said “I don’t drive that direction” in the alley, so she didn’t call either.  Another resident with his garage further up the alley also said he had never called.  He agreed that it was a big issue, and that the crater had been there for “at least two or three years” and that it had been getting “bigger and deeper.”

alley crater in Chicago
another view of the same crater, alley east of 4415 N Drake Ave

Here’s another view of the same crater, this time facing south in the alley.  This view shows buildings that are right on the north side of Montrose Ave, which include a City of Chicago Streets and Sanitation building.  I learned at my recent Town Hall meeting that Streets & San does not handle pot holes, but maybe they handle craters?

It takes a village to fix a crater.  Help me to get this fixed.  I have called 311 to report this on 3/23 and again 4/1.  Please call 311 to report it too.  Here’s what you will need to know for the call:  It’s in the alley just east of 4415 N Drake Ave, between Drake Ave and St. Louis Ave, and the majority of the alley is regular road pavement except for the big, growing crater.

photo of crater in alley
Watch your tires! the metal piece sticking up out of the edge of the crater

Here’s an additional special feature of the crater.  It has a big piece of metal sticking up out of it.  It’s shown in this photo, just above my women’s size 10 sneaker which I included for perspective.  I’d love to know why the heck it’s there, but more than that I’d love it gone so I don’t have to worry about hitting it and risking my tires.

So show me that some Chicagoans care.  Show me you can call 311 and ad your voice, comment on the blog or “like” or share this on facebook.  I will be sending this blog post to my alderman, and to a Channel 2 facebook account.  I will be doing updates on this, and hopefully one day the crater will be gone.  Help me vanquish the crater!