Forward - City of Chicago

ebuild & renew
Over its history, Chicago has invested billions of dollars in its transportation
action agenda
infrastructure. Just like a home or car, keeping that investment in excellent
condition is essential to maintaining its value and avoiding more expensive
repairs in the future.
Asset preservation is a critical activity for CDOT and one of the smartest
investments the city can make. Preservation takes a range of forms, from
routine maintenance, such as repainting lines or patching potholes, all
the way to full reconstruction of a street or bridge that has reached the
end of its useful life. Each project presents an opportunity to build better
than before; use newer technologies, add more sustainable materials, or
Asset
preservation
[is critical.
[
implement better management practices.
CDOT relies on its in-house tradesmen to perform regular, routine
maintenance. In an average year, these tradesmen resurface 60 miles of
residential streets; resurface hundreds of blocks of residential alleys; repaint
over 11,500 pavement markings (at about 1,400 intersections); construct
2,000 ADA ramps; raise and lower bridges over 20,000 times; and fill
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between 400,000 and 700,000 potholes. While 60 miles of resurfacing
sounds like a large number, alone it means that at that rate–CDOT would
only be able to resurface the city’s over 6,000 miles of residential streets
just once every century. More resources are necessary.
Improving the maintenance of our infrastructure is one of the smartest
investments we can make. We intend to get the most out of facilities and
this will only be possible by ensuring that maintenance is a part of all
decision making processes. We can’t just build infrastructure; we need to
build everything to last.