The weather is heating up, which means the Schuylkill River Trail is starting to get more and more use. And if you haven’t visited our excellent riverfront park since last summer, you’ll be disappointed to discover that the pothole underneath the Chestnut Street bridge which has been a nuisance for years still has not been repaired. Someone who regularly uses the trail has grown tired of this pothole and yesterday posted a sign on the fence surrounding the pothole to express their frustration. We snagged an image of this hilarious sign, which was posted to the Urbanphl Facebook page.

The sign was a parody of the sign that’s been posted for the last few years, with the design being carefully copied. The parody sign, by the way, is already gone, so here’s a look at the original sign.

So… what’s taking so long? In response to the sign, Billy Penn wrote a story that explains what’s going on. Apparently, this pothole is rather unusual. It came about because this section of the trail hangs over the river and it’s been worn down over the years. It took about $100K just to figure out what was wrong and how to fix it. And the cost of repairs, which would entail “major marine construction,” would approach seven figures. And it turns out that the Schuylkill River Development Corporation doesn’t have that kind of cash just sitting around.

But the end is in sight! As part of the upcoming renovation of the Chestnut Street Bridge, PennDOT will be repairing the pothole. There’s a chance it will happen this coming winter, but Billy Penn indicates it will may have to wait until the winter of 2018-19.

On the plus side, we now know exactly when this pothole will get fixed. Unfortunately, it seems we’re going to have to suffer with the pothole for awhile longer.