Don't read this post. It's boring.

Not much happens in the Northwestern Illinois town I live in, so this boring story is a big deal.

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The East Street viaduct has been closed for several days because the street underneath is filled with potholes and ice.

The street through the viaduct has been rough for years, and resolving the problem will take more than patching a few holes.

“The problem is, there’s no drainage,” city public works director Rod Johnson said.

The condition of the viaduct was discussed by the City Council at its meeting this week.

Johnson explained that a storm sewer line empties into a manhole next to the viaduct. The manhole or the sewer appear to be clogged, and water is spilling over into the viaduct.

“It was slow before, but now it’s stopped altogether,” Johnson said of the drainage through the manhole.

The storm sewer that feeds into the manhole drains a block of East Street, and East Ninth Street almost as far as Kent Street, an area that includes the parking lot at the American Steel plant.

When the snow melted earlier this month, the snowmelt drained into the manhole, and from there into the viaduct. When the temperatures dipped again, the stormwater froze, creating ice in the viaduct.

Johnson said when it warms up and city crews can get a look at the manhole, they should be able to figure out where the obstruction is.

The deep holes in the pavement under the viaduct could be patched, but Johnson said a permanent solution to the viaduct’s issues would have to include repairing damage in the manhole or the storm sewer line. It could be a large enough project that engineer’s plans would be required, he added.

The Burlington Northern Railroad owns the right-of-way along its tracks, which means any changes to the viaduct would require the railroad’s approval.

Motorists on East street could get from one side of the tracks to the other by taking Ninth Street to the Kent Street crossing, which would add a minute or two to the trip.

But Johnson said city officials are concerned that if there were a “train failure,” with a train blocking the crossings, emergency vehicles might have to go all the way to the first crossing off Route 34 east of town.

For that reason, they don’t want to go along with the railroad’s suggestion to just close the East Street viaduct.