7 on the Streets: Lexington Street potholes

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It's more than a pothole. Russell Winston reached out to ABC7's Roz Varon on Facebook back in September about the deteriorated condition of an entrance to the inbound Eisenhower Expressway.

Lexington Street east of Laramie Avenue is the frontage road on the south side of I-290. It also feeds into the entrance ramp to the inbound lanes of the interstate.

Deep potholes have opened up along this road for nearly a year. Last month, the city did some minor patching. But it's still a rough ride for the 8,000 drivers who use that ramp every day.

"Any time we get a pothole complaint, we have crews out there as soon as possible. We have a pretty good turnaround time on filling potholes. Some streets are in such bad condition that they need resurfacing. Then it's a question of identifying eligible dollars that can be used for that location," said Rebekah Scheinfeld, Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner.

Resurfacing is a more permanent fix than pothole patching.

The city recently announced a new goal of paving 300 miles of streets per year. Within city limits, there are about 4,600 miles of streets. That includes arterial and neighborhood streets and alleys.

Not all resurfacing jobs are the same when it comes to funding. Main arterials are mostly funded with federal dollars. Residential jobs are paid for through local funding.

That's the problem.

The city works closely with the aldermen to help program those funds, but there are many priorities and only so much money.

There is a multi-year plan in place to tackle the worst 200 miles of city streets.

King Drive from Cermak Road to 37th Street, Cicero Avenue from Division Street to the Eisenhower and Irving Park Road from Cumberland Avenue to Forest Preserve Drive are included this year. Lexington and Laramie are definitely on the city's radar.

Another factor in scheduling repaving jobs is coordinating with the water department and other utilities, so they are not working on top of one another.

Report any potholes by calling the city's non-emergency number, 311, or posting on CDOT's website.