Street salt supply in good shape in Glenview and Northbrook
Glenview and Northbrook both are in good shape in the road salt department, with salt on hand and more on the way.
"We have a few hundred tons in the bin right now, and we're getting another delivery. We're ready to go," Glenview Director of Public Works Phil Perna said Monday before another anticipated snowstorm.
Glenview's 20 trucks and its team of contractors have used around 3,000 tons of rock salt so far this season, Perna said, a little under last year's total of between 3,000 and 3,500 tons.
This season's snowfall, 37.2 inches according to NBC-5, is around average, Perna said. It's more than last winter (34.8 inches) according to NBC, but less than in the 2018-19 season (49.5).
Perna, who has been with the Village of Glenview for about two and a half years, but a 30-year public works veteran in Lake County, said the average annual snowfall measured at O'Hare International Airport is around 45 inches.
He was expecting 300 more tons of salt to be delivered on Tuesday, and another delivery of 500 tons coming "in a few days," he said.
The salt, typically mixed with an organic ingredient or calcium chloride to make it an effective snowmelt in temperatures below 20 degrees, is contained in a dome at Glenview Public Works, Shermer Road and East Lake Avenue.
"We have enough ordered, and we have contracts for additional salt should we need it," Perna said. "Our crews here are good, they've been doing this a long time. They always rise up to the occasion and do a good job."
Kelly Hamill, director of Public Works for the Village of Northbrook, can say the same thing. He doesn't mind winter work.
"We're busy year-round, and this is kind of what occupies our time - a lot of our time - in the winter months," he said.
Northbrook's 14 trucks and 30 overall pieces of equipment have distributed about 2,000 tons of salt thus far. Its annual average is similar to that of Glenview, around 3,200-3,800 tons a year, Hamill said.
"We still have salt on hand and we have more back-ordered as well," said Hamill, who has been with Northbrook Public Works since June 1999.
"But we're still in our normal range of salt, more than enough to get through this event and then some."
He's looking for another 1,000 tons of salt to be delivered to 655 Huehl Road by the end of the week. He hadn't had much reason to order more until recently.
Hamill said that except for consistent salting of touchy areas such as bridges and intersections, most of the "curb to curb" action happens after a heavy snowfall, a good 4 to 6 hours worth.
He added that residents can help the cause by not parking vehicles on the roadway to ensure street-wide coverage.
"Just be patient with us," Hamill said, "and we'll get the job done."