Barrington making best of snow day

Barrington public works crews did a good job clearing roads through the night and morning, and today’s sunshine is encouraging residents in their own efforts to dig out, Village President Karen Darch said.

“The sun is helping make it a little more pleasant,” she said.

But a long and difficult night preceded that positive sign of progress, Village Manager Jeff Lawler said.

The intensity of the snow and wind made it difficult for snowplow drivers to even see the roads they were supposed to be clearing, Lawler said.

He drove one himself during the night to get an idea of what the regular drivers were facing.

The vehicles’ windshield wipers tended to get clogged with snow and require a cleaning about every five minutes, Lawler said. And the effect blowing snow had on some roads made it seem as if the plows had never even been there when drivers returned for their second and third passes.

It wasn’t until snow began tapering off Wednesday morning that plow drivers began to make real progress in keeping the streets clear, Lawler said.

But like Darch, he too saw people begin to come out to enjoy the weather once the snow stopped and the sun came out.

Before noon Darch had already observed people walking along the streets and helping neighbors. Families and kids were enjoying a rare snow day to take advantage of the memorable weather, she said.