Street Conditions
Absolutely pathetic. Saving an alleged half-a-million bucks by not salting anything over the past week during two minor storms has resulted in the following observations:
- sewer openings that normally would drain streets properly are iced over because of no salt being laid down early during the storm;
- iced over openings mean curb-to-curb skating rinks on major thoroughfares and side streets;
- ice being allowed to form fully is creating potholes at a clip we haven't seen in years;
- water main breaks and hydrants leaking are unbelievable.
We haven't seen the streets this neglected and messed up in years. More citizens than ever are trying to unclog street corners for drainage. The traffic car ran out of crash reports the other day. Fender benders for squad cars are taxing the fleet, too. There are no pool cars anywhere in the city we heard.
But we realize the mayor has a lot on his mind these past few days.
UPDATE: Aldercreatures feel the pressure:
But we realize the mayor has a lot on his mind these past few days.
UPDATE: Aldercreatures feel the pressure:
- Fed up with snow-covered side streets and ice-packed intersections, an influential alderman demanded Thursday that Mayor Daley set aside $1 million apiece from the sale of the Chicago Skyway, Midway Airport and city parking meters to restore "dangerous" snow removal cuts.
Labels: department issues
posted by SCC at 12:02 AM
71 Comments:
The other day I had to run numerous errands that took me thru Oak Lawn and Mt.Greenwood (no I don't live there,but I have family that does) the differance was like night and day.
I kept to the side streets,all of Oak Lawns were salted and clear,Mt.Greenwood was like an ice skating ring,even with 4WD I was a slipping and a sliding on the Chicago side,my tax dollars at work!
For an excellent example ... westside district has exactly 7 beat/rapids that are pool cars. after role call two days ago we discovered our pool car was downed. No vehicles at area 4 garage, call to area three revealed the same. We had to wait 1 1/2 hours until a rapid came in with time on end to hit the street. Pathetic. 1500 beat car hit street at 1645 hours. Pathetic
I've been talking about this bullshit since the first snowfall. This city use to be dependable on this issue. WTF!
Who pays the highest taxes? Who gets salt?
Where I live = Horrid. Where I work = WORSE. Sell Airport + Skyway + Parking Meters + Senate Seat = LESS spent on public safety.
Nice.
When Daley finally gets nabbed they'll find a money cache that dwarfs what Saddam had.
I work in the Medical Services Section. As of today there is 31 sworn officers off on I.O.D's due to injuries from slipping on the ice. There is another 26 officers on the medical roll due to off duty ice related injuries. Countless other I.O.D. reports with non-time loss reports. And don't forget, if you slip on the ice and make an I.O.D., the city will pay you 3 hours overtime for coming to the Medical Services Section the following day. For 1st and 3rd watch officers or for those officers who work 2nd watch and are RDO on the following day of the I.O.D. report.
There is actually probably more officers off on I.O.D.'s because of the ice because the ones who were injured in motor vehicle accidents aren't counted as ice condition injuries. Only due to the fact that it isn't clear if the ice played a role in the motor vehicle accident.
So 31 officers with the average pay being 32.47 a hour is OVER $8000.00 per day they are off work and that doesn't include the medical cost. I am aware of at least 6 of them with broken bones.
I figured with just the CPD the failure of the city to provide the basic services to remove the ice is going to be well over $1,000,000.00 when you factor in the work hours lost and the medical expenses. Not to mention the loss of manpower from these injuries at the district lever.
Daley tells Tom Byrne to oversee Picardi's snow removal operation. He's told to keep a lid on cost of the snow removal. Byrne tells Picardi to plow and salt only the main arteries. Picardi does this but uses a lot of salt. The next day Picardi states publicly how much it cost. Daley calls Picardi into his office and proceeds to reem him over the cost. Picardi says he was doing what Byrne told him. Daley asks Byrne if it was true. Byrne completely denies it and lays the blame back on Picardi. Look for new head of Streets and San in the future.
No pool cars in Area 3 as of 10 December.......
All that is on the mdigets mind is the Olympics!
The Mt. Greenwood side streets are terrible. Some streets cars are driving down 5MPH. All the taxes we pay and we get no services.
The priorities of the political creatures in this town are upside down. Check out the large scale construction project which has been going on for months and has no end in sight for Buckingham Fountain and the surrounding area. The cost has to be in the tens of millions. Also, during the summer, the city burns off a half million dollars of fireworks twice a week to the point where it is boring to watch because it is too frequent. How many millions are spent on the fireworks displays?
But the city is going to save money by not salting the streets! Who's steering this boat?
Worked the Obama detail, Thursady. Observed that all of the side streets in Hyde Park were clear of ice and snow. Northside streets all ice and snow.
I live on a corner. Every time there's an accident this winter, I'm going outside and handing a copy of the claim form that I pulled off the city clerk's website.
http://www.chicityclerk.com/claims.php
Maybe we should try for the winter olympics.
So whats the big deal? I remember years ago they never salted the side streets. And they only plowed after really big storms. The problem with the sewers is that lazy folks just rake all their leaves into the street instead of bagging them.
Seriously, if we don't have enough money to salt the fuc*ing streets, where in the hell are we going to get the money to build for the olympics. WTF????
We are entering a Depression and Fox news is talking about if o can have a cigarette in the the house! WE,MY FRIENDS ARE FUCKED!!!!!!!
It's like the 70's again! Remember skitching on cars? It was great with the ice covered streets. But alas, no more bumpers on cars.
I don't know about anyone else, but I wanna see that proposal before I agree that any of these aldercriminals should get another million dollars in their pocket.
Has anyone seen this proposal? Article states he wants an additional million bucks for "each", which I assume to mean each WARD gets another million bucks. Who the fuck gets the money? Who the fuck lays salt or plows? Does each aldercriminal get to piss away the million dollars on "snow removal" any way they see fit?
This is BULLSHIT until I see proof that this money can legally be spent ONLY on SALARIED EMPLOYEES of Streets & Sanitation and Salt during WORKING HOURS of their shifts.
Blago got caught with his political shit hanging in the wind for all to see, his statements and actions are what ALL politicians pull EVERY DAY, WITHOUT getting caught. Now is the time to put a flaming microscope to every attempt to spend money by ALL politicians in this state, STARTING in Chicago.
012th parking lot is a sheet of ice. I thought I was gonna score a hat trick on the way to my squad! Watch out Toews
I bet Mealer wont be calling his alderman about the street conditions, only when an arrest is going to be made so they can compromise the safety of all involved.
I've been driving the streets of Chicago for over 30 years. Never have I seen them this icy (dangerous) after little storms like the first three of this winter. Especially several days after.
Several years ago, shysters in NYC documented dangerous street and sidewalk conditions that could cause injury. They notified the NYC govt. of exact locations, and requested they be repaired. They also kept a records of the notifications. Of course NYC didn't repair these dangerous locations in a timely manner, if at all. When someone was injured on the public way, the shysters sued on their behalf. Presented in evidence as proof of NYC's negligence, was the notification of the dangerous conditions at said location.
Needless to say, they won large judgments.
The point being, call 311 and give the location and street conditions. Request that a salt truck be dispatched to clear the road.
Call your alderman's office too.
The only thing Dick understands is $$$$, so go after it.
Just wondering, how are broken watermains and leaky hydrants related to not salting streets? Let's not stretch it too far, SCC.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Worked the Obama detail, Thursady. Observed that all of the side streets in Hyde Park were clear of ice and snow. Northside streets all ice and snow.
12/12/2008 07:51:00 AM
I bet all of the streets around 14th and Indiana are clear. N/W side terrible.
Dove by Taft H.S. yesterday, There was an inch or more of ice on the entire street. Wait till a kid is hit. The poor motorist will be hung out to dry.
Since the City makes a conscious decision to not utilise tax payers money to operateplows and salt trucks, is there any law suit one can file if damage occurs because of the above decision?? Any lawyers?
Can a taxpayers sue the City to force tehm to used the plows?
You are right. I almost got into 7 accidents already....And thats cuz I am driving slow! Everyone I have talked to has slid on ice with their vehicle at least once!
the streets are great for skitching though! brings me back to my youth...pre "political snowstorms" circa 1979 ish...side streets were never plowed and kids had a blast grabbing a bumper or a wheelwell to skitch a couple of blocks.
before i was driving a Po-Lice car I skitched the back of one. that old time copper gave me a good old fashioned ass kicking when i got caught.
now i'm the PO-lice...go figure
My street is nice and clean. It was plowed about 4 times a day when the snow started falling and the sand and salt truck took care of the intersection. My street is almost dry. I look out my front window and see that street and think it's summer out there. Oh, I retired and moved from Chicago 10 yrs ago. Rick 1099
Yesterday I was awoke by loud noises, I looked out my window and saw a city tree trimmer truck. That's right a city truck trimming a bare tree that wasn't a hazard or risk of falling on any utility lines. Yet the streets in my neighborhood, Schorsch Village are all covered with sheets of ice!!! Why not suspend fucking tree trimming in winter and use that money for snow removal? God I hate this forsaken state,county, and city!!!!!
We are turning into Detroit.
There's a snowplow dedicated to just Obama's block. during a snowfall you'll see it on 55st.
ask anyone on his detail
Edison Park is wall-to-wall ice. Be careful out there! It's hell to even walk! If I fall, can I sue the city?
no pool cars, no problem, we ride 4 deep in a sgt's car or put me on parking lot security. the saddest part of the whole thing was watching these little children trying to negotiate their way to school crossing these dangerous ice covered intersections. the police station parking lot is still covered in ice. can we get half of our city sticker wheel tax fee back.
Also posted on Officer Shot in 010
FIVE OFFICERS DOWNED BY ONE SHOT!
Our thoughts and prayers are with the P.P.O. who was winged by that S-D asshole. But, there were four others who were injured by that asshole on the fifth floor
Because our mayor decided not to salt the streets, two responding units were involved in two separate one-car collisions sliding on ice with two officers hurt in each. All went home thank God.
Richie, you got to be a real sociopath to be able to sleep at night knowing that you are causing conditions that helped cause those two crashes.
Listen everyone, we need to get rid of that goof. He is as dangerous to us as a whole slew of armed gangbanger. They shot one but Shortshanks injured four, just as sure as if he pulled the trigger.
Stay safe, and remember, the most dangerous thing we do everyday is drive.
maybe we just need to pay more taxes. if what we are presently paying is insufficient to properly run city government then we must step up for the good of our city.
It used to be that the city streets were in great shape way before any suburban streets weere cleared.
west side of 008 is horrible, looks like only certain blocks were plowed and salted.
"Daley calls Picardi into his office and proceeds to reem him over the cost. Picardi says he was doing what Byrne told him. Daley asks Byrne if it was true. Byrne completely denies it and lays the blame back on Picardi"
-----------------------------------
Missy here people.
The person that said the abouve is so-so wrong. My Uncle Tom Byrne (rtd) would never-ever lie people.
Our mayor knows how much Uncle Tommy loves him. That Picardi just wants to hurt Uncle Tom.
People, salt you own streets like I do in Bucktown. I buy twenty- 5 lb. bags so it is not to heavy for me. I bundle up and salt the streets in front of my house.
The mayor does enough for us people, we are over-paid People...so just buy some salt, and help the mayor in the revenue crisis. I DO !
Our great mayor is for all us tax payers. I pay 13K in R.E. Taxes and I do not cry.
Next year, uncle Tommy will be starting a new revenue unit, all because you "Slugs" cannot write parkers for our dear Mayor.
Missy 018 district
(Parking ticket Guru)
The FOP should step up! The ice on all side streets are bad for officer safety. Get into a foot chase with a man with a gun and watch responding units smash into parked cars, houses, fire hydrants. Be safe out there! remember these fords with traction control still slide on ice and with the city strrets one big sheet of ice do not expect a quick response from other officers. (not that they won't respond but they may slide and crash before getting to you!)
wake up and vote republican
"1500 beat car hit street at 1645 hours. Pathetic
12/12/2008 12:43:00 AM"
Did you get paid for sitting in the station for an hour & 15mins?
THEN STFU TACKLEBERY, STFU!!
Take some pics of conditions on the aldermen's (and Obama's) streets and contrast them with some taken on the regular citizens' neighborhoods.
Get some publicity.
Hey, it worked for Jane Byrnn.
the police lots everywhere are slick and dangerous. I took two headers yesterday alone.
skitcher said...
the streets are great for skitching though! brings me back to my youth...pre "political snowstorms" circa 1979 ish...side streets were never plowed and kids had a blast grabbing a bumper or a wheelwell to skitch a couple of blocks.
before i was driving a Po-Lice car I skitched the back of one. that old time copper gave me a good old fashioned ass kicking when i got caught.
now i'm the PO-lice...go figure
12/12/2008 10:18:00 AM
WOW ! I JUST ABOUT PISSED IN MY PANTS READING THIS TFF!
for tough guy tacklebury, why don't you STFU. no shit the guy got paid the hour and 15 min he had to wait for an available car. the bottom line is that it is inexcusable for there to be no car available, at the very least for beat cars. on one side it decreases public safety to not have a car out on the street when it should be. on the other side, you tool, it is an officer safety issue in that if something happens, i.e. agg batt to p.o., persons shot, etc., you have less officers on the street to assist in controlling the situation. so, tough guy, why dont you STFU!
"1500 beat car hit street at 1645 hours. Pathetic
12/12/2008 12:43:00 AM"
=======================================
Did you get paid for sitting in the station for an hour & 15mins?
THEN STFU TACKLEBERY, STFU!!
12/12/2008 04:29:00 PM
AMEN!!!!
I bet the person who wrote the first part TRULY doesn't understand the FULL meaning of what the person of the second part meant.
I BET THAT SCUMBAG MAYOR DALEY'S BLOCK IS PLOWED & SALTED ~ WHAT A JAG!
Anonymous said...
So whats the big deal? I remember years ago they never salted the side streets. And they only plowed after really big storms. The problem with the sewers is that lazy folks just rake all their leaves into the street instead of bagging them.
12/12/2008 08:32:00 AM
Chicago always salted side streets. What leaves you idiot. Ice covers the sewers. Try to find one open sewer on a street. All streets covered in ice. You are a complete idiot or work at city hall.
"1. Sewer openings that normally would drain streets properly are iced over because of no salt being laid down early during the storm;
"2. Iced over openings mean curb-to-curb skating rinks on major thoroughfares and side streets;
"3. Ice being allowed to form fully is creating potholes at a clip we haven't seen in years;
"4. Water main breaks and hydrants leaking are unbelievable."
5. Which leads us right back to #1. The "vicious cycle," as illustrated by SCC.
Look on the bright side, though. They'll save $10 million on salt the winter and then spend $500 million fixing the streets in the spring.
Which leads us to --
6. Mayor Daley is clinically insane.
No getting around it, is there?
"Daley tells Tom Byrne to oversee Picardi's snow removal operation. He's told to keep a lid on cost of the snow removal. Byrne tells Picardi to plow and salt only the main arteries. Picardi does this but uses a lot of salt. The next day Picardi states publicly how much it cost. Daley calls Picardi into his office and proceeds to reem him over the cost. Picardi says he was doing what Byrne told him. Daley asks Byrne if it was true. Byrne completely denies it and lays the blame back on Picardi. Look for new head of Streets and San in the future."
If anything ever pointed up that Mayor Daley is clinically insane...
It always looked to me like Streets and San did a good job on snow removal overall -- until this winter, when they were ordered not to.
You'd see plows staging on arterial streets even on the strength of a bad forecast, then they'd start running back and forth salting the minute the stuff started coming down, before they even had to drop the blade. They'd be up and down a main street a dozen times during the night, one coming one way and a second going the other. You'd see the garbage trucks with the quick-hitch plows out in the side streets ASAP.
In the last bad, super-wet and heavy snow, they let it accumulate on main streets until about dawn, then made one pass. No service on the side streets even then.
I was out there at 2 AM and saw Oak Park plows hurtling along on their side of North Avenue -- and nothing at all on the Chicago side. Typical.
Picardi used to be on the Snow Command radio all night with the supervisors, getting reports of conditions at different locations. It sure looked like they were cracking the whip. You want that street "black and runnin' water" -- the salt lowers the melting point of water so that it never does freeze up on you.
...and now this. "Snow Command" turned into "Snow Do What It Wants."
I had a sneaky feeling that Picardi might try to run for mayor someday. I wonder if someone doesn't want that -- if they have someone else in mind?
Whatta burg.
back in the day we had no stink'n salt...just tire chains...
"Worked the Obama detail, Thursady. Observed that all of the side streets in Hyde Park were clear of ice and snow."
It's the ghost of Leon Despres.
"Chicago always salted side streets. What leaves you idiot. Ice covers the sewers. Try to find one open sewer on a street. All streets covered in ice. You are a complete idiot or work at city hall.
12/12/2008 09:20:00 PM"
There's a difference?
We are turning into Detroit-------------------------------------
Then I hope you are a hockey fan.
Hopefully people will remember what happened to Michael Anthony Bilandic and do the same to this S.O.B. Why do people keep voting this guy into office? He stripped everything away from the middle class and gave everything to the wealthy and the low class. There is no more middle classs because of politicians like him.
But hey, we gotta have those Olympics!
signed
da midget
Maybe Obama can spring for the snow removal in his hometown with that extra 700 million lying around his bank account.
"You want that street "black and runnin' water" -- the salt lowers the melting point of water so that it never does freeze up on you."
Sorry. I meant "lowers the freezing point of water."
"Anti-icing is a road maintenance strategy that tries to keep the bond between ice and the pavement surface from forming. It involves applying ice control chemicals before or at the very beginning of the storm. Using this strategy often reduces total chemical use and allows a higher level of service to the traveling public."
http://www.usroads.com/journals/
p/rmj/9712/rm971202.htm
Everywhere else runs on physics; Chicago has politics.
Blago and the Midget are hoarding the salt as part of a master plan. One moonless night J-Fraud will pull truck after truck up to a wall dumping tons of it over then Blago and the Midget will climb up it to make a quick escape.
6. Mayor Daley is clinically insane.
No getting around it, is there?
12/12/2008 10:19:00 PM
He's crazy like a fox.
The company that will get the $500mil contract to fix the streets will be owned by someone named "Vanecko."
Why not open only the portion of the Streets and San Contract that relates to scheduling and negotiate work rule changes that allow for staggered starting times to minimize overtime or for like the Police a "duty availability" in the interest of public safety that the hours can be adjusted. Only in Shortshanks world does it snow between 9 and 5.
Wrong, wrong and wrong. The city didn't salt side streets back in the 70's. Of course most of you were just wet dreams back then....
Drove through summit even the streets there were snow free, the west end of 008 a shambles guess old lipinski and zalewski now have there balls removed and king daley showed them! maybe the 23rd ward needs a alderman with some balls!
Have a cellphone camera , a digital camera, or a disposable camera with you in your vehicle at all times. Photograph the icy intersection along with the street signs together if possible. Then you have evidence of negligence on the part of the Shitty and the Alderman if you are involved in an Accident.
DROVE THROUGH NAPERVILLE COUPLE NIGHTS AGO, AS BIG AS NAPERVILLE IS ALL STREETS. MAIN AND SIDE ALL POWED AND SALTED. MAYOR PRADEL KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND YES SEISER STILL RUNS IT.
"Blago and the Midget are hoarding the salt as part of a master plan. One moonless night J-Fraud will pull truck after truck up to a wall dumping tons of it over then Blago and the Midget will climb up it to make a quick escape."
--12/13/2008 02:45:00 AM
They've been sneaking it out of city yards a little bit at a time, using privately owned small pickups, so as not to attract attention.
Photos here --
http://www.chicagoclout.com/weblog
/archives/2007/12/who_is_grabbing
_taxpayers_road.html
http://www.chicagoclout.com/weblog
/archives/2007/12/who_is_paying_
for_this_expensi.html
Good old blue salt. Do we have to start mixing red stars in with it too? At least the second guy had the decency to put a tarp over his load...
the police lots everywhere are slick and dangerous. I took two headers yesterday alone.
******************************
Mommy, Mommy I fell down! Who can I blame? The big bad police department didn't put salt in the parking lot. Who can i sue? How many days can I sit on the medical with the rest of the lazy malingering pieces of shit. Mommy, Mommy what should I do?
How about learning how to walk?
I work in the Medical Services Section. As of today there is 31 sworn officers off on I.O.D's due to injuries from slipping on the ice.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !!! For having the balls to post this information. If only the media would pick up on this stuff. SCC you've got a GOLD MINE of information up here with this type of info !!!
"How about learning how to walk?
12/13/2008 10:36:00 PM"
How about you learning how to not suck ass?
"...I took two headers ye.sterday...."
I got two headers yesterday.
Now, kees me you fool!!!!
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