IDOT to Fix Man’s Drainage Problem

By Maggie Borman, The Telegraph, Alton, Ill.

Nov. 23–BUNKER HILL — A Bunker Hill man who wanted a ditch on his property repaired got nowhere with state officials — until he called The Telegraph.

Jim McLaughlin made telephone calls to city officials and the Illinois Department of Transportation, along with a state senator. For the past few months, he also displayed a sign on his property that read, “Discrimination — You bet, only ditch in Bunker Hill not repaired,” to no avail.

“But The Telegraph must have some clout, because one call to them last week, and IDOT called me,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin has lived at 530 Washington St. in Bunker Hill for over 30 years. He said he was highly irritated when his property was not included in IDOT’s work order for improvements to ease flooding problems along Illinois Route 159.

“My property was simply bypassed, but everyone else around me got the improvements — even property that includes a vacant house,” McLaughlin said.

He said he had made calls to IDOT and city officials. He even attended the Bunker Hill City Council meeting last week to get documentation from city officials stating the city had nothing to do with the project.

After McLaughlin called the newspaper last week, a Telegraph reporter called IDOT District 6 construction engineer John Saladino to ask why McLaughlin’s property — one that created a dangerous situation — had been bypassed.

Saladino said he did not know why but would check out the situation. He asked for McLaughlin’s telephone number and said he would speak to McLaughlin to determine what the problem was and whether the state could remedy it.

True to his word, Saladino called McLaughlin and scheduled a day and time to visit the McLaughlin property to survey the issues.

“Two men from IDOT came (Monday), John Saladino and Gary Burdine, and looked at my problem and said they didn’t know why it wasn’t on the schedule in the first place,” McLaughlin said. “But it is now, and they said they would fix it.”

McLaughlin, 72, and his wife, Gay, said erosion caused by flooding left the area around their property a danger zone, badly in need of repair. They said they never have asked for anything special, merely to be treated fairly.

McLaughlin said IDOT told him Monday that the state would fix the ditch, add on to a culvert, put riprap down and extend the entrances to his driveway.

“They said they might not get to it before the middle of December, but I told them as long as it didn’t take 30 years to get back to it, I can live with it,” McLaughlin said.

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