River North curbs still hazardous with repair project in limbo

February 23, 2012 – Despite assurances from the city and ComEd nearly two years ago, no visible work has been done to particularly steep curbs in River North that inspired complaints from residents of the downtown Chicago neighborhood.

The southwest corner of North Clark Street and West Kinzie Street remains hazardous and well traveled, as an impasse has set in between the city and ComEd over who is responsible for fixing the curbs.

(Left) At the southwest corner of the intersection of North Clark Street and West Kinzie Street, pedestrians climb two steep steps to reach the curb.

42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly called the curbs “very steep” in his October 2009 letter to the Chicago Department of Transportation requesting a survey of the corner. CDOT determined that the sidewalk was ComEd’s responsibility because the electric company had equipment in a vault underneath the sidewalk.

On March 16, 2010, Reilly told residents ComEd was aware of the steep curbs and the project had been “prioritized.”

“I have been informed that the vaulted sidewalk will be reconstructed in the coming weeks, and is expected to be completed in early spring 2010, weather permitting.”

Later that month, after ComEd representatives met with city officials about the corner, the company’s communications manager, Jeff Burdick, told Marina City Online, “There are some additional conversations that will need to happen before we’re able to get started on the project. But at present, we’re expecting to do some work on that corner in August [2010] and the hope would be to have everything completed then.”

A year later, still no progress

By late September 2011, when no visible work had been done to the sidewalk, Marina City Online contacted ComEd for an update. Alicia Zatkowski responded with a statement that said while ComEd was planning to replace the roof of the vault in which its equipment is located, “ComEd is not responsible for any repairs of the sidewalk or curbs at this intersection.”

Zatkowski said they would work on a solution with CDOT, the “adjacent building owner,” presumably Mesirow Financial, owner of 321 North Clark Street, and other parties. Zatkowski did not respond to further requests for clarification. Despite numerous inquiries over many months by Marina City Online, CDOT has not provided any status on the project. CDOT has estimated that repair of the sidewalks would cost at least $100,000.

In September 2007, the City of Chicago settled a class action lawsuit by agreeing to spend $50 million over five years to repair and replace curb ramps and sidewalks in high traffic areas, then $18 million per year after that. The suit had been filed in 2005 by The Council for Disability Rights, which claimed the city had “continuously failed to provide and maintain” curb ramps that were compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

While dozens of corner sidewalks in River North and nearby neighborhoods were rebuilt in September 2009 to make them ADA compliant, the Clark & Kinzie corner was not disturbed.