Joliet 'Running Out Of Places To Put Snow'

JOLIET, IL — While the city's snowplow drivers have been complimented for their efforts to keep Joliet's main roads and busy intersections free of snow and ice, the same can't be said of many Joliet subdivisions, particularly on the city's far west side.

During the winter, the city of Joliet uses several construction contractors including Austin Tyler, P.T. Ferro and a host of other businesses to help with snow plowing activities.

At Tuesday night's meeting, Mayor Bob O'Dekirk said he's fielded several complaints from residents, particularly people on the far west side, who have been unhappy with the city's efforts to plow their subdivisions, mostly notably the cul-de-sacs.

O'Dekirk noted that the cul-de-sacs are typically plowed by the private contractors the city hires for the work.

O'Dekirk said he spoke with one couple, who own a business, and they were unable to get out of their house for a couple of days, because nobody came and plowed their cul-de-sac.

On a related matter, Joliet's mayor reminded the City Council that they passed an ordinance in recent years prohibiting people from parking cars on the street during a snowstorm.

Joliet police have the authority to issue tickets during snowstorms, however, "we passed an ordinance that we don't really enforce," O'Dekirk said. "It's failing everybody."

Meanwhile, City Manager Jim Capparelli said that on the topic of snow plowing, "I believe we're doing a great job here, but we're running out of places to put the snow.

"So you're going to have to bear with us. We're not going to be able to get everything just quite like you like it, or maybe as it has been in the past, as the snow just continues to build up, and we can expect more over the weekend, without letup.

"Additionally compounding that is we've run out of salt, not completely run out, but we're down to conserving salt, so we're only using about 500 tons. Right now, we're only down to 1,200 on hand. We have 2,800 (tons) ordered, but it hasn't arrived yet, and we're doing all we can, but IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) takes preeminence over us. So, any salt that comes, the Illinois Department of Transportation is the first for highways."