Probe needed of roadwork problems

As a north-side resident of Libertyville, I have lived with daily frustration for over a year on the widening of Route 21 and the intersection at Buckley Road.

I also have, as most residents, lived for a few years now with the botched repaving of Milwaukee Avenue through the center of Libertyville a few years ago. That job resulted in a series of manhole covers that are lower than the pavement height and lead to heavy jolts to the suspension system of your vehicle multiple times as you drive down the road.

The latest incompetent job is the railroad crossing that was just completed. These projects are overseen by IDOT and Metra. So now it becomes clear, we are victims of the Michael Madigan network of politically appointed incompetent hacks.

You will also note that these jobs have taken far longer than they should have, workers show up randomly for periods of work then leave again for a few weeks. That has gone on for two years now. The Metra job will have to be redone; they botched the engineering, putting an angle on the crossing to accommodate the train corner, never considering what that ramp would do to car traffic.

Why do these projects drag on? Well, the unions have to be paid, so they deliver the vote to keep this corrupt system functioning. We need an outside investigation, but we won't get that.

It is past time for Illinois to make change, and it will be hard, because the current political machine doesn't play fair.

Mark Scales

Libertyville