May 16, 2008
IDOT has come out and said that they will only be attending to repairs and maintenance that involve public safety, such as painting(?!). Because of rising fuel prices and poor budgeting over the winter, certain other things are going to be neglected.
Among the examples sited in the PJS of services that will be neglected is pothole repair. Since when did potholes become NOT a public safety issue?? Speaking as someone who has blown several tires and destroyed one of my wheels in the forbidding chasms known as Peoria potholes, they most certainly are a public safety issue of the highest order. What happens the first time someone blows a tire in a pothole, flips their car, and kills 3 kids in their vehicle? Will it become a public safety issue then? Or when a semi hits a potoholethat pulls it into the adjacent lane, sideswiping several vehicles. How about then?
People will only tolerate their vehicles being destroyed (and repaired at their own expense) for so long before IDOT will start being held responsible for the obstacle course we all drive every day. If they think they’re in a budget crunch now, wait until that first wrongful death lawsuit comes around.
May 17th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
SOME of Peoria’s gaping potholes are the result of bad weather. Soem come from the the city adding an inch or two to the heighth of the road by adding a layor or two, but neglecting to fix the manholes for several days. They did this on North University last years and it took well over a week to fix. And since I only drove down that street at night … I hit these holes with regularity.
May 18th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
On many streets it has gotten to the point that you can’t pay proper attention to the traffic because you are concentrating on dodging the potholes to avoid destroying your car. I don’t care if it weather or incompetence, it needs to be fixed. Cut something else out of the budget and put the money into road repair.