Water Leak Creates Icy Mess On Washington Heights Street
Updated 01/14/2015 - 2:03 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- After losing patience with the city, due to weeks of waiting for someone to fix an underground water leak that turned their street into an icy mess, residents on a block in the Washington Heights neighborhood finally got the relief they sought on Wednesday.
People on the 8900 block of South Eggleston Avenue have been chipping away at the ice for weeks. As of Wednesday morning, it was up to a foot thick in some places.
Everyone on the block said they repeatedly called the city about the problem after the leak started, and the water began to freeze. Two disabled people live on the either side of the source of the underground leak, and the ice has made it difficult for them to get to and from their reserved handicapped parking spaces.
The ladies on the block said several cars have been frozen in place, and a school bus got stuck in the deep ruts in the ice Wednesday morning. A speed hump in the middle of the block made things even worse.
The leak appeared to be coming from under a large tree in the parkway. Someone came out and marked the location of the leak, but it has not been fixed, and the street remains covered in a sheet of ice.
The city's Department of Streets and Sanitation said it has been putting down salt to melt the ice, but neighbors said it does little good.
City crews showed up late Wednesday morning to address the problem, and within a couple hours, they had cleared away most of the ice and laid down salt on the street to melt what was left.