Service Requests

Chicago’s 311 Hotline
You can call 3-1-1 to make requests for most city services, to report heat ordinance violations, among many other services. Our ward office serves as a liaison to other city departments and agencies, and can help answer questions on existing services requests placed through a call to 311. We can also help you place 311 requests. If you need any services from the city, and our ward office is not open, 311 is your place to start.

Street or Alley Light Out
Report a street or alley light outage on a street (street lights are located on metal poles, alley lights are located on a wooden pole). Please be sure to check the exact address of the light.

Garbage Cart Black Maintenance/Replacement
If your black plastic City of Chicago garbage cart is missing, it may be replaced. You must let us know how many carts are missing, and how many carts you have remaining at the address. We also need to know the approximate date when you first noticed the cart missing

Rodent Baiting/Rat Complaint
Use this service request to report a rodent or rat problem. You can request for your alley to be baited and your backyard.

Street and Alley Pothole
Report street and alley potholes. Be sure to be as detailed in describing the location of the pothole. To report a utility cut (a square cut made for utility repairs) or a sinkhole (a deep dip or void in the pavement) call 311 directly.

Graffiti Removal Request
Use this request to report graffiti that is on your property, public property or on someone else’s property. Graffiti will be removed from public or private property by Graffiti Program. Graffiti will either be painted over (if the graffiti is on a painted surface) or blasted off with a high pressure baking soda and water solution (if it is on brick, cement or stone).

Tree Trimming
The Bureau of Forestry is no longer receiving individual tree trimming requests and has shifted to a grid-based maintenance schedule similar to the street sweeping schedule. You can view the 33rd ward trimming map here.  If you’re worried about the immediate safety of the area around a given tree due to its conditions, you can reach out to 311 or our office so the appropriate service request can be made.

Common Forms

Streets and Sanitation

Garbage Pickup
Black Garbage Carts are picked up weekly while Blue Recycling Carts are services every other week. Click below to find the garbage and recycling pickup schedule for your home.

Street Sweeping
The street sweeping season officially runs from April – November each year. With mild winters, there are opportunities for the city to sweep outside of this schedule, however off-season sweeping is currently restricted to main streets.

Below, you can view an interactive street sweeping map created by our Ward Superintendent. You can type your address, and the map will show you which sweeping zone you are located in and the planned schedule for sweeping for the season. You can add those dates to your calendar for helpful reminders. We will continue to post “No Parking” signs ahead of scheduled sweeps.

Residents can also view street sweepers in real-time using the Sweeper Tracker online tool.

Infrastructure

Our Office’s Infrastructure Budget
The city recognizes that each ward office has a detailed understanding of their local infrastructure and holds relationships with people in the community that may be in need of services. For these reasons, each ward is given a spending budget of $1.5million each year, which is called our “Menu” funds. Menu funds can be spent on a pre-determined list of projects provided by city departments such as alleys, street resurfacing, sidewalks, street lights, and more. Of this $1.5million, our office sets aside a small portion of funds for emergency spending in the community, as well as for repairing a list of high priority/emergency projects provided to us by city departments.

Investing In Our Communities
In order to support our neighbors most in need, our office organizes a Participatory Budgeting committee each year to help us determine the best way to allocate our menu funds. You can learn more about our Participatory Budgeting process below. We proudly work to uplift our neighbor’s needs and work to prioritize Community Investment projects to ensure that any small amount of money we have access to goes into projects that have the most public benefit. You can learn more about our community investments listed below.

Project Timing
In general, all infrastructure and construction projects take a long time to be completed. Once our office allocates funding to a project, that project leaves our hands. Some projects can take a year to be completed, other projects take a few years. We appreciate your patience, as we share your wishes to see our infrastructure repaired and to see new community investments open for the public good. If you have particular concerns about the status of a project, we are happy to help answer any questions, and can connect you with the relevant project manager as needed. You can learn about the status of a project and check permits at the ChiStreetWorks application listed below.

Funding Shortages
There is an incredible need for investments and repairs all across the city, including in the 33rd ward. Of the roughly $1million dollars we have at our discretion to spend each year, we can barely scratch the surface. For example, total alley repairs for any given year might exceed our total budget by double or triple, which doesn’t include street resurfacing or other repairs. We are always advocating for more funding for our communities and look forward to working with our neighbors to continue that advocacy.

ChiStreetWork Application

The ChiStreetWork tool allows you to view all the active and permitted construction work taking place near you. You are also able to opt into updates to receive real-time notifications related to construction work.

Please note, this application is designed for use by City of Chicago departments, and might not always list every project. If you see something happening in the ward, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office at 773-840-7880 and let us know.

Menu Funds

Aldermanic Offices have $1.5 Million “Menu” funds which they can use to improve their wards streets, alleys, and any other public spaces. These are the only funds that an Alderman has for improvements so it is important that we are fully informed on all of the needs of our ward. Residents can help us get new ideas for how to use this money through our offices Participatory Budgeting Process and by submitting recommendations in the form below.

CDOT gives our office data on the condition of our streets and alleys to inform how we use our annual funds to improve the ward. This data does not, however, offer us insight on the experience of residents who live, work, or commute in the 33rd Ward. If you have noticed a part of the 33rd Ward that can really benefit from some improvement, please let us know by filling out the form below.

If there is an urgent infrastructure concern such as street lights that aren’t working, curbs that are severely damaged, and speed humps that need to be repaired please contact our office to submit a service request or you can submit a service request directly by calling 311 or using the 311 app. You can learn more about common service requests from our Neighborhood Services page.

Community Investment Projects

Combined Map of Infrastructure Approvals in the 33rd Ward
The map below marks all of the infrastructure improvements in the 33rd ward that have been approved by our office since 2022. If you hover over the map, on the upper lefthand corner, you will see an icon that appears as a box with an arrow. This icon will expand a sidebar menu to control the layers of the map. This will allow you to turn on a layer with neighborhoods, as well as to turn on and off specific years.

Funding Allocated in 2023
Von Linne Turf Field
Haugan Play Space Renovations
Bike Lanes Central Park and/or Berteau
Complete – Garbage Cans & Flower Beds at Lawrence & Wilson Near Kimball

Funding Allocated in 2022
Complete – Repaving Sidewalks of Physically Disabled/Elderly Residents
Kedzie Public Gathering Space at Kedzie & Leland
Complete – Nature Play Space Bateman
Complete – Drake Garden Food Pantry Structure
Left arrow signal Cali/Elston/Belmont
Complete – Stamped Crosswalks

Funding Allocated in 2021
Complete – Exercise equipment at Horner Park
Soccer pitch Horner Park
Basketball court Sacramento Play Lot

Funding Allocated in 2020
Nature Play Space for Bateman Elementary School
Left turn Arrow Upgrades at California and Diversey
Complete – Stamped Crosswalks
Playground Upgrades at West River Park
Complete – Alley Light Installation in Dark Alleys
Complete – Montrose Buffered Bike Lanes

Funding Allocated in 2019
Complete – Horner Dog Park
Complete – Bike lanes on Kedzie
Complete – Drake Garden Improvements
Complete – Horner Park Effigy Mound