Your commute will continue to look like moonscape for a while

The snow may be gone, but this season's brutal winter will linger in one annoying fashion until summer comes to Lake County.

Already in bad shape before winter struck, the regular beatings of snow, ice and the dreaded freeze-thaw cycle created a moonscape of potholes on state routes throughout the Chicago area.

The Illinois Department of Transportation plans to have them fixed, but the last of the work in Lake County may not be complete until mid-July.

With as many as 500 complaints per day, reports of pothole-related damage have reached a record level, officials say.

As the potholes appeared last winter, IDOT dispatched 60 patching crews to make temporary fixes. State roads, already in their worst shape in years before winter, were "destroyed" by the elements, according to Diane O'Keefe, IDOT's top engineer for the Chicago area.

The problems became so severe that for the first time in recent memory, the state agency decided to hire outside contractors to do the work, estimated t o cost more than $25 million.

Crews literally measured the size of potholes to determine bid specifications for eight patching contracts. Bids for Lake, Will and McHenry counties either came from a single source or were determined to be too high, however.

Will and McHenry county contracts were re-bid Friday. Lake County was divided into two sections, east and west, and will be re-bid May 16.

"Hopefully, by the end of May, you'll see work in Lake County starting," O'Keefe said. That will take four to six weeks, meaning the Fourth of July may have come and gone by the time it's over.

Roads that will be resurfaced were not included in the pothole repair contracts. There was no estimate of how many potholes are on state routes in Lake County.

The money spent on emergency patching, in combination with high gas prices, the need for more road salt and overtime for snow plow drivers, drove the agency into a hole, and it is awaiting a $20 million supplemental appropriation.

Meanwhile, the agency has restricted all overtime except for construction projects and emergency operations. On Thursday, IDOT will restrict vehicle use by employees to the same purposes.

"We are really going to be restricting our operations. … It is a very serious situation," O'Keefe said.