Algonquin Road is passable

Plows now have made Algonquin Road passable in Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect.

The state road, also known as Route 62, was still only one lane westbound as of 6:30 p.m. Thursday night, and traffic was backed up from the Arlington Heights Road intersection all the way east of Elmhurst Road. And Elmhurst Road from I-90 north to Algonquin Road was also totally snarled with vehicles at that hour.

But a few hours later, traffic was moving.

Except for the expressways, none of the state roads have gotten special treatment, said Guy Tridgell, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

“This is a storm of historic proportions. We are asking people to be patient,” said Tridgell. “We’ve made tremendous improvements in the last 24 hours, and we are making more hour by hour.

“Tonight we can continue to attack the roads, and you should see more improvement in the morning.”

Some communities have found it more efficient to plow state and county roads themselves, but Arlington Heights Village Manager Bill Dixon said it would be very expensive for Arlington Heights to do that because the village has a lot of state and county roads.

He added that to “takeover” a state or county road usually involves more than just plowing — it also is a commitment for maintenance and resurfacing and reconstruction.

“Snow removal could be explored, but we’ve got all we can do to take care of our responsibilities, let alone the state’s,” Dixon said. “Our residents would end up paying for that.”