Snow By the Numbers: Lake Forest, Lake Bluff Plow Ahead

Twenty inches of snow is well over the normal amount that public works officials in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff are accostomed to plowing away at once during a typical winter season.

"Twenty inches of snow is a problem," said Ken Leone, superintendent of Public Works in Lake Forest.

Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch has compiled a list of just what it took for both communities to clear away the snow, and get residents moving again.

• 29-30 personnel in Lake Forest, working 12-hour shifts to plow and salt the streets between Feb. 1-5.
• Two crews of four men on each shift in Lake Bluff that also worked for 12 hours at a time.
• 1,107 hours of overtime put in by public works employees in Lake Forest, costing the city $58,975.
• $29,716 is the amount that Lake Forest went over their budget year as a result of the overtime needed for the blizzard.
• $33,041 in overtime costs for Lake Bluff, which consisted of $35,357 for snow removal, and $7,654 for public safety. 

“We had a couple guys sleeping at the Public Works Center because they couldn’t get home,” said Public Works Superintendent Jake Terlap.

Both Lake Forest and Lake Bluff have asked the federal government for reimbursement for these expenses.

And there's more:

• 110 tons of salt used on 6,294 miles of road in Lake Forest, which had purchased two tons of salt last summer to add to the one ton they already had in reserves. They now have 1.62 tons left, which is considered more than enough to get them through the rest of this winter.
• 50 tons of salt used in Lake Bluff, who had 825 tons available for purchase at the beginning of the winter season. They still have 120 tons available on their contract, which is plenty finish out the winter season.
• 6,231 gallons in diesel fuel used by clean-up vehicles in Lake Forest.
• $800 spent in fuel for three large vehicles, and one small vehicle in Lake Bluff.
• 65 mailboxes in Lake Forest were knocked down during plowing process that must be repaired.

Among the areas still need of attention are:

• hauling away of snow in some of Lake Forest’s alleys
• potholes now need patching
• snow needs to be blown further back from the streets to widen them
• four down trees must be removed
• plowing needs to be finished on the bike path, and some of the city’s sidewalks.

According to Public Works departments in both municipalities, the only problems they encountered were the need to ask plow drivers to pull over to the side of the roads from time to time due to low visiblity.

"Other than that the equipment worked well, the salt truck worked well, and everyone was in good spirits," said Leone.