Snowstorms and Partnersips

Quick recovery from a snowstorm requires a three way partnership. That partnership would be among the citizens, the Police Department, and the Department of Public Works. If everyone does their part the snow is quickly removed and we can all get on with our lives. At some point in time the City of Blue Island made plans for snow storms and snow removal. Many streets are marked with blue and white Snow Route signs. The signs warn that there is no parking after a snowfall of 2 inches or more until the snow is removed, and that violators will be towed.
The snowstorm that hit us on Thursday, December 18th was not a surprise. The weathermen had been forecasting it for two days, and originally it was predicted to begin about 2:00 p.m. on the 17th. I know that we all engage in wishful thinking. We hope that a storm will bypass us and we will not have to deal with it. However, on the morning of the 18th it was obvious that we had taken a direct hit. There was 4 to 6 inches of snow, encased in ice. This is when the snowstorm partnership broke down.
The general population made little attempt to move their cars or avoid parking on the snow routes. As of this writing (four days later) there are still cars plowed into place on residential snow routes around the city. People were parked up and down Western Avenue as if it were any other day. In front of our building there were at least two vehicles which were parked 5 feet from the curb because they either couldn’t see the curb or couldn’t get any closer. This put them partially in a traffic lane, which in and of itself would be deserving of a ticket. The vehicles remained there all day. This scenario was repeated up and down Western.
I can already hear business owners protesting that their customers have to park somewhere. How much better would it have been if those customers had waited for an hour or two until the streets were cleared? Many businesses still have lumpy snow in the street in front of their buildings. We have a 2 foot ice berm in the middle of the parking spots in front of our business. This is going to make it difficult and dangerous to park, not just for a day, but for several days to come. As for cars that remained parked on Western all day, I have to assume that these were business owners or employees. We should know better.
The Department of Public Works did what they could. The plows were out all day on the snow routes, plowing and spreading salt. But they can’t plow where cars are parked. I didn’t hear of one person being ticketed, much less being towed away.
As I write this it is 3 degrees below zero and the wind is howling. As a customer, I would not want to brave these temperatures just to be greeted with lumpy and icy parking spots. The partnership broke down, and the business district and sales tax revenue will pay the price until the next warm spell, which will be after Christmas at the earliest. Too late for any last minute Christmas shoppers. If it snows again on top this whole mess, things will just get worse. What were we thinking?

Spending my frozen $5.00 on Western.

Candace Carr
CARR home-garden-holiday