VILLAGE OF SHILOH: Winter Weather and Snow Plowing Procedures

By Press release submission

Jan 26, 2019

Village of Shiloh issued the following announcement on Jan. 24.

The Village of Shiloh Public Works Crew works hard to ensure that residents are able to access their home at all times. Knowing how we approach winter weather and snow events can help residents understand when these storms occur. The Village staffs five (5) Public Works employees. Depending on the length of time anticipated for a snow event, the Department must determine if all employees work at once, or if the work needs to be split into shifts in order to ensure that plows are on the road at all times. If an event is estimated to be shorter than 15 hours, the entire crew will be deployed in plows. Otherwise, between two (2) and three (3) trucks will be on the roads at any given time during an event.

The Village crew clears streets on designated routes based on priority. Many of the major roads through the Village are under the jurisdiction of the State of Illinois and St. Clair County and are the responsibility of the State and County for salting and snow removal. These roads include Main Street, Lebanon Avenue, Green Mount Road, Cross Street, Frank Scott Parkway, Maple Street, and Hartman Lane. In instances that the State and County do not provide service to their roads, the Village Public Works Crew must attend to them first in order to keep traffic moving and to gain access to Village maintained streets.

Once the major roads are cleared, Public Works begins clearing snow routes first, then move on to primary streets, followed by secondary streets. Snow routes include main roads, emergency service access points (fire, police, hospital), and hills. Designated snow routes can be found at the end of this document. Primary streets include the main loops within subdivision and secondary streets are internal subdivision streets and cul-de-sacs. Those with the least traffic volume tend to be plowed last. Each route is designed for efficiency and to minimize backing up so a truck may come down one side of your street but turn on to one or more other streets before it returns to plow the other side of yours.

Depending upon the forecast, crews may first spread salt to pretreat road surfaces and melt the falling snow. This remains effective when temperatures stay above 20 degrees. Please note that it is also standard practice to avoid salting either flat roads or in newer subdivisions as repeated salting of concrete leads to deterioration of that material. Plowing typically does not begin until at least three (3) inches of snow has accumulated. This is necessary for the plows to work effectively and not damage streets. A heavy and lengthy snowfall may require that plows continue to go over the main arterials and snow routes to keep them clear before the driver gets to more residential streets. Therefore, plowing some residential streets may be delayed depending upon the storm’s type and intensity.

What You Can Do To Help

If possible, stay off of the roads. Park your car off-street whenever you can. During snowfall or when snow is predicted, it is especially important to remove all vehicles from the street to allow the operation of snow removal equipment. If possible, do not park on any street until plowing has ended. Crews often return to “plow back” snow at the edge of the streets or around the perimeter of cul-de-sacs once the drive lanes have been cleared.

Since a snow plow moves the snow from the middle of the road to the sides, snow plowing operations may inconvenience property owners when snow is plowed in front of driveways or by mailboxes. You may have already shoveled your driveway and cleared a path to the street making it necessary to shovel the end again. Consider helping neighbors who are elderly or ill. If you pile snow at the end of your drive, please do so on the right side as you face the street. A snow pile on the left might get pushed across the drive as the plow moves past.

Ensure that basketball goals and other obstructions are not placed in or adjacent to the street. These pose a hazard to snow plowing crews and the travelling public.

Finally, please be patient. Snow response takes time. It is possible that not every street in the Village will be plowed, but we do our best to ensure that roads remain open for emergency service providers.

The following are designated as main roads and emergency service access points for the Village of Shiloh:

Anderson Lane: Lebanon Avenue to East B Street Road

E B Street Road: Green Mount Road to Rail Road Crossing

Diamond Court: Park Drive to Seibert Road

Fortune Boulevard: Frank Scott Parkway East to Green Mount Crossing Drive

S High Street: Cross Street to the Firehouse Entrance

Johnson Road: Seibert Road to Shiloh Station Road

E Julie Street: S Main Street to the school property

Oak Street: Cross Street to the Firehouse Entrance

Park Drive: Seibert Road to Diamond Court

Seibert Road: S Main Street to Johnson Road

Shiloh Station Road: Lebanon Avenue to Shiloh Station West