Some in Elgin say plowing tactics fall short; mayor disagrees

David Atkins doesn't enjoy shoveling snow, but like most Elgin residents he got plenty of practice with the heavy snowfall Thursday night and Friday morning.

His work became an exercise in frustration as plows bypassed his corner at Walker and Division streets in the city's historic district.

"The only thing that's come through here is cars," he said, taking a break from shoveling around his car. "(Plows) usually come through and do a lick and a promise (saying) 'We'll come back later.' Here is hit or miss -- mostly miss."

Things were looking up for business Friday morning at the Roll N Donut shop on the city's east side.

Even if the smiles were turned upside down.

Owner Bill Sanders said customers weren't shy about voicing their frustrations with the city.

"Most of them said, 'I haven't seen the side streets done and even the main streets were in bad shape,'" Sanders said.

A combination of about 20 straight hours of snowfall, along with the city's policy of focusing on major roads, firehouses and public gathering places before hitting neighborhood streets sparked complaints from residents.

The city has a policy of focusing on major roads -- termed arterial and collector streets -- first during a storm before hitting side streets and smaller roads, explained Public Works Director John Loete.

He said the city had all 34 of its plow trucks running continuously as drivers alternated shifts. The city has more than 350 miles of roads to plow and they can't all be done at once, he said.

The snow didn't taper off until about 9 or 10 a.m. Friday, and that made for a messy commute.

But it wasn't for lack of trying, Loete said.

"We had maximum effort on. We have had every guy and every piece of equipment we have available working. They're still working," Loete said, noting many drivers worked shifts of 12 hours or more. "When you got out of your neighborhood onto the main streets of Elgin, you could get to where you had to go."

A random drive through Elgin after the morning rush revealed some areas where city plows had done a solid job -- and many areas that had gone untouched.

• A few side streets in the Providence subdivision off Nesler Road on the city's west side had been plowed once, but at 9 a.m. Route 20 and Randall Road was treacherous at best and the exit onto Route 31 was gray slush.

• By 9:30 a.m., Route 31 south of National Street also was more slush than pavement.

• At 10:15 a.m., two of the four lanes on Route 31 north of Wing Street were covered in snow.

• At this same time, many areas around city hall, such as Symphony Way, were clear, courtesy of two plows working together. The plows reached Dundee Avenue and proceeded south, but one truck had its plow up at least a third of the time. During this time, Park, south of National Street, was completely clear of snow.

• Kimball and Dundee at about 10:35 a.m. was completely clear of snow, except for a large swatch of slush in one lane that scraped the undercarriage of full-sized sedans.

• There was absolutely no evidence of plowing along Poplar Court off Summit or College Street off Park Street.

• Snow was cleared from large stretches of Route 25 with pavement visible across all four lanes.

Mayor Ed Schock said it's simply impossible to simultaneously plow all of the city's streets, the length of which could stretch from Chicago to St. Louis.

He said other towns also focus on major roads before clearing side streets and that during a morning drive around town he found many minor roads cleared to the pavement.

"On balance, I think we did a good job," Schock said. "This was the heaviest snow of the year."

Councilman David Kaptain suggested the city compare itself to other communities, looking at some variables such the ratio of the number of plows to miles of streets.

Kaptain said it doesn't matter if he believes the city did a good job or not.

"If the public is not happy, we're not doing a good job," he said. "If they expect more, we better do more."

Loete said the city has a policy of clearing all its streets within 24 hours of the snow stopping.

So, by this morning, "we will have been through those neighborhoods and have all the streets cleaned," Loete said.

Garbage delay

• Trash and recycling collection for Elgin residents who normally have collection on Friday will resume this morning. Pickup was suspended due to heavy snow on Friday.