Plows were out, but rush-hour snow prevailed

It was a phrase many people said when they first looked outside Monday morning and during their commute to work: “Where's the plow?”

A heavier-than-expected, early spring snowstorm dumped around 5 inches of wet, heavy snow across the suburbs, leaving many major roads in bad shape for the morning rush hour — including Route 53, Butterfield Road, Arlington Heights Road, Route 68/Dundee Road and Route 59.

That caused long travel times and multiple accidents and spinouts.

Illinois Department of Transportation officials were not available for interviews Monday morning, but said in an email the state plows were “on the road in full force.” About 200 trucks began salting starting at 9 p.m. Sunday across the six-county metropolitan area, the agency reported.

Public works officials in Arlington Heights and Barrington said state routes through their towns, which generally are maintained by IDOT, were in worse shape than local roads.

“(Route) 68 was horrible. So was Barrington Road and 59,” Barrington Public Works Director Mark Werksman said.

Rush hour is often an impediment to quick snow removal, but since it's spring break for many school districts, there was lighter-than-normal traffic, said Werksman, who had his full fleet of snowplows out starting around 3 a.m.

Public works officials speculated that Monday morning's weather seemed particularly bad because, in many people's minds, the snow was gone for good. After all, it was 70 degrees just seven days ago.

“People just thought winter was over, and that's kind of foolish. Because it's not over until the middle of April or May 1,” said Arlington Heights Public Works Director Scott Shirley. “People are a little grumpy about it because people were looking forward to end of this winter. And who can blame them?”

With the pavement warm and the temperatures expected to rise, local public works crews expected their work to continue, as roads could ice up overnight.