The Village’s snow plan is designed with residents in mind, with a focus on making roads available for safe travel during and after a snowfall. To better understand the plan, consider the following:
- Snow is plowed from the center of a roadway towards the parkway. Unfortunately, the ends of homeowner’s driveways are also in this location. Trying to direct the plow away from each driveway as the plow passes is not manageable – there are well over 10,000 driveways in the Village – and it would result in snow left in the street.
- On each street, multiple passes of the snow plow are needed in each direction just to clear snow from the center of the roadway to the edge. Passes near the edge of the road will result in snow coming off of the plow blade and unavoidably being deposited on parkways and driveways.
- Remember that on-street parking is prohibited any time after 2” of snowfall and between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. everyday. Observing these restrictions is important to give snow plows the room they need to maneuver.
- Remove empty refuse containers from the curb as soon as possible in order to avoid contact with the snowplows.
Ice Removal / Treatment
While the most common technique to remove ice is with road salt, the Village of Woodridge supplements its road salting operations by utilizing snow and ice control equipment. Referred to as a brining system, this anti-icing equipment allows for the application of liquid salt brine onto roads prior to a snow event. This helps prevent a bond from forming between the snow and/or ice and the roadway, resulting in a situation where the snow and ice either melts, or is easier to plow away. A benefit of utilizing this system is a reduction of salt material and labor costs.
Smaller winter storms are ideal for the use of brine as it can be applied in advance of the storm based on weather forecasts. The brine can melt the smaller amount of snow resulting from these storms without requiring any supplementary salting or plowing.
Anti-icing techniques like salt brine are a more targeted approach to snow and ice control which results in using less salt than traditional methods – ultimately reducing snow and ice control costs. It also has a number of additional benefits, including reductions in the amount of damage to trees, grass, and shrubs adjacent to the roads and in the chloride content of run-off that goes into lakes and streams.
Winter Storms / Heavy Snowfall
In snow removal operations, the Village prioritizes plowing in order to allow to accommodate the highest volume of traffic first, and then by targeting less traveled, mainly residential streets. It is the priority of the Village to assist in the snow removal of all major streets, residential streets, and courts; however, when major snow events occur, the Village does have a priority system in place.
Please note: During heavy snow events, Public Works crews will be working around the clock to keep the roads safe.
During winter storms, if you absolutely must travel during this storm, please make sure you have a winter storm survival kit with you. However, if you can avoid driving during and shortly after the storm, this will help crews complete their work.
Mailboxes
Occasionally, during the course of snow plowing, a mailbox may be unavoidably damaged. Should this occur, please contact the Public Works Department at 630-719-4753 to report the damage. A temporary mailbox will be provided if one is needed to prevent an interruption in your mail delivery. When the weather permits, permanent repairs will be made to your mailbox and/or post.