Like many cities that experience multiple freeze-thaw cycles, Chicago has a pothole problem and it has a pothole problem every year. And each year newscasts feature film of potholed streets and car-eating potholes, and each year the city attracts attention (meaning politicians get lambasted) for not repairing potholes quickly enough. No news there.
But this year there's been some news: First there was Kentucky Fried Chicken's offer to repair $5,000 worth of potholes on Chicago streets provided KFC could stencil an ad on top of each pothole when they're done. KFC did the work in its hometown of Louisville, KY, and made the offer to five cities total. Chicago said "thanks but no thanks."
More recently some city residents took the matter into their own hands -- and repaired the potholes on their streets using eight bags of a pre-mixed cold product they bought for $100 and a 250-lb. push roller borrowed from a neighbor to fill 15 holes. Not very economical considering the city spends $100 per ton on a high-performance cold patch, but also not very safe to have residents working in the street.
The city reports its crews fill between 3,000 and 5,000 potholes a day and have filled 300,000 potholes since the beginning of December and urges residents to be patient...but they are "considering" corporate sponsorship of its repair operations.
New Repairing-potholes story in Chicago
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