This is really getting out of control,this damn city is starting to look more and more like a war zone ,Baghdad in 2003 after bomb raids. Driving became a pothole avoidance exercise ,with constant swerving and other erratic manouvers. In the last 4 months ,4 busted tires and one very expensive rim is the result. I see the same potholes since last Fall,never repaired ,just getting deeper and more dangerous. Chicago and Illinois are more like a Third World country then a candidate for the Olimpics. Sorry for my rant but I am truly pissed....
It's not just you guys, as a neighbor to your north I'm sorry to say we have the same issues here. It seems as though the only ones they repair are the ones on the main roads (makes sense) however, they repair them during rush hour only which makes for a whole new set of issues and stress-inducers.
How about this, When I lived in New Orleans , the roads there are complete cr*p, people complaining left and right. Nothing ever done, then we see a nice newly blacktopped road, Bienville ST to be exact, about a 1 mile section of it. Who lived on that 1 mile section of Bienville, none other than Marc Morial at that time the mayor of New Orleans, and that was the only street to get improvements for a very long time. Wade
I'm terrified of bending my Gransport's rims in downtown Chicago. It seems that the locals know where the potholes (sorry, the CRATERS) are, and swerve to avoid them without notice. As a relative newbie to the city, if I'm not quick to follow the moves of the cars ahead I just end up crashing with my whole car into the gaping holes... I hate driving like that. I have now been driving in Italy for the last 10 days (Milan, Liguria, Tuscany) and I have noticed the total absence of any sort of potholes compared to Chicago... so much more relaxing!!! Anyone saying that Italian roads are bad must first have a go in Illinois
Mark, I hear you. I got so pissed when i got my 7th flat in february, that i just said **** it, and decided to work from home since. Have been to the office a few times since only and always hate it. Do you have Easy Care insurance? They will cover your cost ( rim,tire and job ) if the tire is not bald and the car has less than 70k miles. It costs 12$ per month ! Best buy i ever did.
Its bad out there. Did you see where some neighborhood took it upon themselves to fill the pot holes on their block because the city sux and were to ssssssllllllooooooooowwwwwwwwwww. If you do happen to bend your Ferrari or Maserati wheel, make you sure you call us at Continental AutoSports so we can get it fixed for you quickly and get you back on a pot hole free road...if those exist. 630-655-3535
Thanks for the tip, that's awesome! But surely these guys must be overwhelmed with insurance claims from Chicago, soon they'll stop insuring us??
Living in the burbs hasn't proven any better for my rims.... A few months back I nailed a hole the size of a truck tire and trashed my rim.... I actually kept on driving and went straight to CAS and luckily they had a 20" sport GT rim for my QP and I was out the door an hour later... The only good things were the great service from CAS and the airline miles I keep earning with every trip to the store..... Tony............
Agreed, hit a big pothole while driving up to Wisconsin. I don't know what the name of the specific part is but the black plastic thing underneath the front bumper ripped right off
I love this city. I love everything about it. Its culture, its architecture, its diverse mix and the billiard table surface on LSD.
What a brilliant answer to pothole problem,how predicable from a typical politician.... http://www.autocar.co.uk/forums/t/5876.aspx
And that is precisely one of the many reasons why I left Europe and love the US in general and Chicago in particular. Don't call me a masochist. That term applies to all the Europeans who stayed there. I have friends in Europe who think the US is going down the drain. They should first take a really good look at their own countries. The US ain't perfect, but a gigantic leap ahead of Europe.
Yeah, but you guys at least have Jones' Big ASS Truck Rental up there! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0gb9v4LI4o RMX
Don't forget Jones' Barbeque & Foot Massage!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPkMUU9tUqk&feature=channel
I pay around $300K in property taxes annualy. Cook County/Chicago has not put a dollar into the repair of our roads. I also damaged a $500 tire recently. After paying an up seen amount in property tax I can't even enjoy driving on these sh*t roads now that the weather is getting better. Us car enthusiasts must unite! Let's picket in front of the City Hall this coming Monday morning in time for Mr. Daley's arrival. Geno.
You guys have it sooooo much better than in MI. I split time between here and the Detroit area and the roads around Chicago are a dream compared to SE MI. "This is really getting out of control,this damn city is starting to look more and more like a war zone ,Baghdad in 2003 after bomb raids." Detroit literally does look like that, but of course the roads are far from the worst part of that city.
I figured, since you know Europe. Why don't they have pot hole problems on the streets of European cities? Because they don't use salt in the winter. Why not? Because it harms the environment. In essence they do squat, let traffic come to a stand still and are even proud of it.
No salt in Aspen either,only sand. No real problem with driving there. Main culprit though is not just the salt but very significant temperature osccilations ,expanding and contracting of the surface that allows water to seep in the tiny openings,later expanding (when freezing) and thus destroying the surface. General lack of maintenance and poor quality of materials used by bidders well connected politically only exacerbates the problem. That last reason is especially prominent in LA where they use no salt and have no freezing yet very poor quality of road surfaces,almost on par with Chicago.
No comment! Sparky P.s. Grand Poobah, I personally put your car inside when I left today. I too had an Fcar there today!
