Road crews: Keep kids away from snowy streets

Milton Township Highway Commissioner Gary Muehlfelt was pushing back a huge pile of snow when he noticed a sled and shovel.

He stopped the plow, got out and peered around the back of the pile.

That’s when he saw the tunnel the neighborhood kids had dug in the snow.

The kids weren’t there, but the experience left Muehlfelt plenty worried about what could have been.

“What happens is the kids see the big snowplow coming and they all hide in the tunnel,” Muehlfelt said. “I would hate to see somebody get hurt.”

Muehlfelt is warning parents against letting children play in snow piles in the public right-of-way, such as along the side of the street or at the end of cul-de-sacs. Neighborhood kids dig tunnels or forts on the side away from the street, and snowplow drivers can’t see them.

Muehlfelt, whose township is in the heart of DuPage County, tells his drivers to get out and inspect before starting on a pile. But when the snowplows are “shouldering” the snow along the side of the street, drivers “cannot physically stop at every house and get out and take a look,” he said.

DuPage County crews plowing highways report a different danger: Children playing atop huge piles on the side of the road could slip and fall into high-speed traffic.

“We’ve had instances where (drivers) had to stop, slow down and beep,” said John Kawka, manager of highway operations for DuPage County.