Snow causing woe for residents, plow drivers

SUN CITY – Temperatures plunging to cruel lows and persistent snowfall have turned this winter into an exercise in patience for many local residents.
According to the National Weather Service’s Chicago office, the 2013-2014 winter already ranks as having the sixth highest snowfall total on record for Chicago through Jan. 18 at 38.9 inches.

Huntley has been no exception to the elements, having seen 39.75 inches of snow from Nov. 13 through Jan. 11. This has caused an exceptional workload for Huntley’s Public Works Department, which handles snow removal in the village.

Jim Schwartz, director of Public Works, said his department has received complaints from Sun City about snow but has also gotten compliments from residents on how they’ve handled the storm.

One resident who feels left in the cold is Georgina Dortch, N. 15. Dortch said plows have been late to visit Sun City and that streets in the community are often coated in snow even after trucks come through.

“Even in a mild winter after a snowfall the streets are still snow covered, and it’s not a safe place for people to walk,” she said.

Dortch said she has visited Del Webb’s Grand Dominion community in Mundelein and found that their roads were in much better condition.

Schwartz said that salt does not work as well on smaller, less-traveled roads as they lack the traffic to crush salt and heat up the pavement.

On scheduling, the Village of Huntley’s Snow Removal Plan – viewable at huntley.il.us – explains that snow plows visit main roads located in Areas 1 and 2 first. Area 2 features several Sun City roads, including Del Webb Boulevard, Hemmer Road, Countryview Road, Clanyard Road, and Hennig Road.

After Areas 1 and 2, the plows head to Areas 3-11 simultaneously to plow neighborhood streets. Del Webb streets are included in Areas 6-11. After that, the plows handle cul de sacs.

“[The drivers] all come in and we meet; we talk about what we’re going to do, how we’re going to attack the storm, are we going to salt throughout the storm, are we going to salt just intersections and hills?” Schwartz said.

Another issue Dortch mentioned is that plows often come after residents have already shoveled their driveways in the morning and the plows bring snow from the street back onto driveways.

“They always come around after we clear the driveway and they push the snow back at the end of the driveway,” John Martinez, N.15, said.

Schwartz said plows do push snow from the street onto driveway aprons, but that is standard procedure and the only way to push snow off the streets. He also asked residents to refrain from shoveling snow back into the streets and instead put it in the front lawn.

“We’re just going down the street pushing the snow from the center to the curb so it’s a continuous windrow of snow,” Schwartz said.

Martinez said he has seen snow plows driving between five and 10 miles over the speed limit in Sun City. Schwartz denied this, saying it is unsafe and inefficient for plows to travel that fast. He added that speed is often misperceived because the larger trucks appear to be moving faster.

“We’ve gone to a much smaller truck [in Sun City] really because of that complaint,” he said.

Public Works is also installing GPS units on its vehicles this year to help keep track of trucks, their speeds, and serve as proof to questioning residents.

Schwartz asked all residents to be aware of snow plow drivers and to avoid pulling in front of them while driving or following too closely.

This winter has been especially challenging for residents and snow removal personnel alike. Schwartz said heavy snowfall is one thing but the streaks of days with near constant snow have been the biggest problem.

“When you get a storm that comes in and you get a quarter inch an hour for some 30 hours, it’s just crazy because you can’t leave, you’ve got to stay here and keep going on it, keep going on it,” he said.

The result is longer hours for plow drivers.

“It’s a little offensive when people say they’ve never seen us,” Schwartz said. “Our families haven’t seen us; we’ve worked Christmas, we’ve worked New Years, we’ve done every holiday this season.”

According to the National Weather Service, all but one of the top snowfall winters had snowfall totals drop significantly after Jan. 18. Still, given the bitter cold and difficulties already faced this winter, both Huntley residents and snow personnel may be crossing their fingers that the groundhog doesn’t see his shadow on Feb. 2.

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