Flooded Alley Leaves Mount Greenwood Residents Wondering Where their Tax Dollars Are Going
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Boots are needed to slosh down an alley in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood after it rains.
"This is a common occurrence that happens every time it rains," Kara Farej said. "Our alley gets flooded. The water comes up into the garages."
The water comes up, and the garbage cans come down.
Floating Fritos side by side with a Ramen noodles package and a buoyant banana and bottle -- all that garbage won't just disappear on its own.
"This will probably take three days, four days before it dries up and then we'll have a muddy mess for a couple days. We'll have to come up here and clean up all the trash out of it and let it dry completely," Farej said.
Ryan Franzen is fed up with the alley-turned-river too.
"It's aggravating. You just kind of learn to suck it up and deal with it, but it's not right," he said.
Farej, Franzen and other neighbors say they've had enough and want the city to do something about the problem.
"We do our part, pay our taxes. We're just looking for a little help," Franzen said.
Those requests, according to Mount Greenwood residents, have fallen on deaf ears for years.
"I've contacted the alderman several times about it," Farej said. "Our answer is always 'no answer' basically. He says there's no funding to fix this. We just have to deal with the problem."
Residents have another fear as summer approaches -- mosquitoes. Standing water creates a breeding ground for the biting bugs.
Ald. Matt O'Shea said the alley was paved in 2004 and residents at the time signed a petition, acknowledging flooding was a risk. Because of money, a permanent solution is not an option, so O'Shea has asked the Department of Transportation to look into replacing the asphalt with gravel.