Snow and Ice Control
The Gurnee Public Works Department is responsible for the Village’s snow and ice control operations on 243 centerline miles of public streets and 350 cul-de-sac and dead end streets within the corporate limits of the Village. The Public Works Department operates under the guidance of the 2023-2024 Snow and Ice Control Plan, which establishes control methods and procedures for winter weather events designed to reduce threats to public safety and the traveling public. The procedures established provide details pertaining to the personnel, equipment and materials to be used on the Village’s 11 designated plow routes during SIC operations. View a map of the Village's snow routes.
Salting operations typically begin as streets become slippery, while snowplowing operations commence when more than one (1) inch of snow has accumulated on Village streets. SIC operations are conducted simultaneously on all of Village’s 11 plow routes to ensure uniform coverage of critical areas such as main arterial roads, intersections, curves, hills, and school zones. During an average 4” snowfall a single pass is designed to take between 4-6 hours but the intensity and duration of a storm can drastically affect response times.
Salt use is minimized for environmental benefits and to reduce the impact on the local watershed. Public Works utilizes liquid ice melting chemicals to pre-treat granular salt before spreading it on the roadway. Pre-wetting the salt helps reduce scattering off the target roadway, increases the effectiveness of salt at lower temperatures, and provides the necessary moisture speed up the ice melting process.
Why Is Snow Piled On My Corner
Snow that accumulates across the side road at an intersection must be pushed back to allow visibility and to clear the entire street radius so vehicles may turn off of or onto a roadway. The snowplow operator will typically push snow onto the corner in the direction the truck is traveling. Depending on route design and the flow of traffic, some corners may get more snow than others. It is not practical to equally distribute snow on opposite corners.
If there is an accumulation of snow at a corner where there is a bus stop, children may need to move up the street in order to board the school bus. Please instruct children not to climb on the piles that have accumulated at the corners. If a snow pile on a particular corner becomes a sight clearance problem at an intersection, please call the Public Works Department and the snow will be removed as time permits.