Problem Solver: Floodwaters recede but barriers remained

Albany Park resident couldn't get over why city didn't remove structures

The 5000 block of North Lawndale Avenue in the Albany Park neighborhood is a beautiful, tree-lined street with closely packed red brick houses.

The north end of the block ends in a cul-de-sac that abuts the Chicago River.

On nice days, Lisa Easley and her neighbors can access a bike trail and benches along the river, just a few steps from the end of the street.

When Easley moved in five years ago, it seemed idyllic.

Then came the April rains.

The deluge pushed the river over its banks, causing flooding along and around her block.

To help keep the floodwaters at bay, the city placed sandbags and concrete barriers across the cul-de-sac.

Easley said she is grateful for the city's help.

She just wants it to clean up after itself.

Several weeks after the floodwaters receded, the sandbags and the barriers remained, creating an unsightly scene at the end of her block. The sandbags began to quickly decay.

"Everyone on the street called and asked for them to remove the sandbags," Easley said. "That took (the city) a good eight weeks. Finally, they removed them, but they left the cement barriers."

Easley said she reached out to her alderman's office, the city's Department of Streets and Sanitation and the Department of Water Management, asking for help in getting the barriers removed.

"Most of our emails go unanswered," she said.

When city officials did respond, they told her they wanted to keep the barriers there so they would be easily accessible in the event of another flood.

"They won't remove them," Easley said. "There are places they could stack them up nicely, but they just haven't done that."

Tired of lifting her children over the barriers so they could access the trail, Easley emailed What's Your Problem?

"It just looks like a wasteland," she said. "You'd die if you lived here."

Easley said she and her neighbors can't use the cul-de-sac while the barriers remain. In some spots, the barricades run two deep. They cover the sidewalk as well, including a ramp that is supposed to provide access for people with disabilities.

"It makes us all feel like they don't care," she said. "We're homeowners and we have pride in our homes, and they just really don't care."

The Problem Solver called Tom LaPorte, spokesman for the city's Department of Water Management, which placed the barriers on the street in April.

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