The State Journal-Register

Thursday, February 15, 2007 ~ Front Page, News

Article from: www.sj-r.com/Sections/News/Stories/107895.asp

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A Day to Dig and Plow: Driving can still be tricky

By DANIEL PIKE and JOHN REYNOLDS
STAFF WRITERS

Life began to return to normal Wednesday, as Springfield dug and plowed its way out from under one of the heaviest snowfalls in its history.

SJ-R.com Video: Snowplow ridealong
Web extra: View photo gallery

Aided by direct sunlight on a cloudless day, city and county street crews made progress, although work was expected to continue into today. By Wednesday afternoon, many of Springfield's busiest roads were at least partially clear of snow and ice and all county highways were open, officials said.

Still, driving remained tricky in many areas, and drivers were urged to stay alert. Piles of plowed snow and deep drifts continued to threaten motorists, especially after dark, when subfreezing temperatures threatened to ice over roads again.

"People need to realize that this is a winter storm situation and caution needs to be used when traveling," said Frank Lesko, manager of operations for the Sangamon County highway department.

Since the storm began, Lesko said, county crews had rescued at least 60 drivers who slid into ditches or into snowdrifts. Among them was a group of three on Prairie School Road south of Williamsville, where an adult woman and her parents chose to guard their two cars for several early-morning hours rather than hike to their nearby home, Lesko said.

That family's cars were dug out by daybreak, Lesko said. No one was injured.

Calls from stuck drivers were not treated as 911 calls, Lesko said. Motorists were put on a list and assisted as workers were able to reach them.

City crews also worked around a number of stuck cars, said public works director Mike Norris, as plows largely concentrated on side streets. By Wednesday morning, most secondary roads in Springfield had already seen at least one pass with the plow, Norris said.

Even though most roads had received one pass, the snowfall was so heavy that the work of the city crews wasn't always evident.

Norris said that during the height of the storm on Tuesday, the plows could go down a road, and within 45 minutes or so, it appeared that the roads had never been plowed.

"There were streets that we plowed three of five times, and we had people complain that we had never been there," Norris said. "This was one of the worst storms we have had in a long time."

The heavy snowfall made work especially difficult in some of the city's subdivisions.

"There are some subdivisions that have a driveway every couple of feet. And, if it's not a driveway, it's a mailbox. There is just nowhere to push the snow," Norris said.

To clear the troublesome subdivision roads, city crews were planning on pushing the snow into the middle of the road late Wednesday and early today, and then haul it out of the area.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Norris estimated that there would be about 45 city crews working through the night.

In addition to hauling snow out of subdivisions, the crews would also be working to widen the paths that they had already cleared.

Overall, Norris said the city crews have been doing a good job, and he added that most people who had called his office had been very understanding.

"I'd like to thank the public for their patience. We have gotten some calls about us missing streets, but for the most part, the callers have been asking us when we can get there," Norris said.

Springfield received 11.2 inches of snow between Monday and Tuesday nights, the fourth-highest snowfall total over a 24-hour period since records began in 1879, according to the National Weather Service in Lincoln.

Springfield's deepest snow total of 15 inches occurred on Feb. 28, 1900. Some of the city's outlying areas reportedly received as much as 15.8 inches of snow.

Interstate driving also gradually improved throughout Wednesday, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. Interstates were clear of ice and snow to the north and south; everywhere else, IDOT reported "patchy" conditions as snow and ice melted or broke away from the surface.

Conditions were also improving to the north in Logan County.

On Wednesday, Illinois 10 and Illinois 136 were reopened Wednesday afternoon after being closed because of blowing snow, said Matt Vanover, spokesman for IDOT.

"Right now, we have both of them open to at least one lane," Vanover said Wednesday afternoon. "We still have crews out there working."

Daniel Pike can be reached at 788-1532 or daniel.pike@sj-r.com. John Reynolds can be reached at 788-1524 or john.reynolds@sj-r.com.