Woman left with more than $4,000 in damage after car hits downed light pole on DuSable Lake Shore Drive

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Chicago lady stated she was left with hundreds of {dollars} in damage to her car after it hit a downed light pole in the center of DuSable Lake Shore Drive

As CBS 2’s Suzanne Le Mignot reported Wednesday, Stacy Sweat stated she and her husband have been driving north on the Drive simply north of thirty first Street round 11:30 p.m. Saturday, July 30. All of a sudden, she seen one thing did not appear proper.

“In front of us, there was a few cars pulled over – but we weren’t sure what that was,” Sweat stated, “and the next thing you know, we hear a big bump and we’re bumped over something – and we look over and there’s a big light pole, laying across the middle of Lake Shore Drive.”

Sweat stated her husband drove their black 2011 Lexus on two flat tires to get to the closest exit and off the Drive – solely to satisfy one other couple with one flat tire and an identical story.

“They had hit the light pole too,” she stated.

Sweat filed a police report. Her Lexus was left with more than $4,000 in damage.

“When you drive in the country, they always warn you about a deer coming out of nowhere – but who would have thought a light pole would come out of nowhere and you’d run over it in the city?” Sweat stated.

We counted at the least 4 downed poles on northbound DuSable Lake Shore Drive from Oakwood Boulevard to thirty first Street – alongside with a number of orange site visitors cones overlaying uncovered wiring the place light poles have been as soon as in place.

Taking a more in-depth look, our cameras captured important rust on the size of the light poles and on the bases.

“I think Chicago should take a look at this,” Sweat stated.

Professor Sammy Tin, the division head of the Materials Science and Engineering Program on the University of Arizona, agrees with Sweat.

“These poles are definitely in need of some maintenance and inspection to ensure that the degree of rust is not compromising the structural integrity of these poles,” he stated.

Tin checked out photographs of the light pole Sweat says her husband and others ran over. Tin stated primarily based on the photographs we despatched him, he cannot decide the way it got here down.

The professor has been out with the CBS 2 Investigators for the previous a number of years now, taking a look at light poles in the Chicago space.

“Aging infrastructure is a real big problem – not just in Chicago, but throughout the country,” Tin stated. “It’s a multitrillion-dollar problem.”

We reached out to the Chicago Department of Transportation to get their remark in regards to the rusted light poles we discovered and to see what the plan is to restore them. We have been nonetheless ready to listen to again late Wednesday, and we’ll hold you posted.