All village streets now have two lanes open, mayor says

As state and Cook County crews clean the roads they are responsible for in Elk Grove Village, municipal crews are busy clearing the intersections with connecting streets, Mayor Craig Johnson said Thursday.

Higgins Road (Route 72) still has only one lane open in some places in Elk Grove Village, Johnson added.

Meanwhile, all the village-cleaned streets had at least one lane open as of 7 p.m. Wednesday, and Johnson was proud that by Thursday, those same streets have two lanes open.

The village’s priority now is keeping intersection cleared, particularly those local streets that intersect with state or county roads, he said.

“When they (the state crews) are clearing roads like this, they push an awful lot of snow on our inlet streets,” Johnson said.

Another priority is trying to get corners cleared at school crossings as much as possible.

And now, the crews are getting tired, the mayor added.

Areas with curbside mailboxes are expected to be cleared by Friday or Saturday, and officials have asked residents who can to clear paths for mail delivery.

Johnson said this storm was far worse than 1999, when he was first mayor. The high winds were more brutal and so was the timing: This storm hit in the middle of the week; while the 1999 storm occurred over the New Year holiday, when there was less traffic.

Elk Grove Village is confident it can get federal disaster funds to cover the extra expenses of the storm and is already working with the county and state to apply, said Johnson.

Sen. Dick Durbin will support all requests for disaster aid that the governor’s office puts forward, Christina Mulka, a Durbin spokeswoman, said Thursday. Gov. Pat Quinn issued a disaster declaration for the entire state earlier in week.

The village will order more salt to finish the winter, but has enough for this storm and a week or two more, Johnson said.