Wilmette snow crews working hard to clear streets

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A truck salts North Shore streets Thursday during the region's first major snowfall of the season. | Tamara Bell~Sun-Times Media

Updated: January 12, 2012 7:59PM

Wilmette snow crews battled steady precipitation and afternoon rush hour traffic Thursday in an effort to keep village streets clear of the heavy, wet snow that marked the first snowfall of 2012.

Public Works Department crews deployed all 12 of the village’s large snow plows around 3 p.m., department director Donna Jakubowski said Thursday night. Her department’s personnel were activated in the village’s “code red” plan for snow control, she said, allowing the village to operate two 12-hour shifts in order to patrol and clear the streets throughout the storm.

“We went to code red at lunch time and started salting. By 3 p.m. there was enough snow down to start the plows,” Jakubowski said.

“Things are going well. Once people get home and are off the streets, we can continue work and we’ll see what the rest of the evening brings. Unfortunately, it is supposed to snow until midnight at least, so we will be busy.”

In addition to the large plows, Wilmette has smaller snow-clearing equipment, generally used to help clear approaches to Wilmette’s Metra tracks, and sidewalk clearing equipment.

Once the village’s roads are plowed — roughly 100 miles of road, which translates to about 380 miles of individual lanes that must be cleared — crews will tackle an estimated 19 miles of alley and 166 miles of sidewalks, she said.

“We plow sidewalks once four inches of snow has fallen, and we’ve got that,” she added.

Crews also will clear municipal parking lots once commuters have emptied them.

Public Works personnel already have cleared the sidewalks around village schools, Jakubowski said, and will try to concentrate on those areas again Friday in advance of school opening.