- A Chicago man is frustrated after years of semi-trucks damaging his home
- Robert Christie lives near a bridge with low clearance, trucks reverse into his house
- Despite city-installed barriers and warning signs, the city sued him for failing to repair damage to his home, including a roof and metal fence.
A Chicago man may be forced to leave his prized bungalow after years of semi-trucks crashing into his home and causing damage.
Robert Christie lives near a low clearance bridge, and despite the intersection having plenty of warning signs, many truck drivers don’t seem to realize this until the last minute, forcing them to make awkward U-turns in the middle of the road .
He says the vehicles are so big that when they back up they crash into his house, often causing damage.
The property’s fence has been knocked down and he says trucks are colliding with parts of the house’s exterior, including the beige brickwork and gutters.
Despite city-installed barriers and warning signs, the city sued him for failing to repair damage to his home, including a roof, gutters and a metal fence.
Robert Christie lives near a low-clearance bridge, where trucks make a U-turn and suddenly reverse into his house
Christie says he has counted about 200 incidents in the past decade alone.
Despite the problem being no fault of his own, 55-year-old Christie, who has owned his bungalow since 2003, has been cited several times by the city for failing to repair the damage to his home.
Now Christie is considering whether it is all worth it and is about to leave the property for good and is reluctantly thinking about selling.
At the request of the Chicago Sun Times if he really wanted to move, he hesitated: “Not really, but if the price is right.”
Robert Christie estimates that there have been 200 incidents that have caused damage in the past ten years
The semi-trucks are so big that they often collide with the house when making a U-turn
A letter from the Department of Buildings to Christie states, “The department shall consider such alleged violations to continue on each subsequent day after the date of inspection until evidence is brought to the department demonstrating that such violations have been properly corrected.”
A department spokesperson has since said no action will be taken against Christie.
‘There are no enforcement actions pending and no risk of fines or penalties,” Michael Puccinelli said, although he noted that a subpoena could actually help him sue for damages from drivers who crash into the lot.
He has installed surveillance cameras on the outside of his home to catch any accidents on camera so he has evidence when trying to make claims against trucking companies.
Photos from the past ten years rarely show a time when there was no damage
It costs between $2,500 and $7,300 each time to have the damage to the house repaired
Despite having his roof and gutters repaired several times at a cost of between $2,500 and $7,300, Christie wants the city to install concrete barriers instead.
The city has previously installed “bump-outs,” which are raised concrete sections of the road designed to narrow the road and deter trucks from backing into the street.
Additional signs were also installed to warn motorists of the impending danger, but that appears to have made little difference. He thinks it’s only a matter of time before another collision occurs.