Snow plows are ready to hit the road to handle the ice and snow winter generally offers in the Midwest. Peoria area public works officials, I-DOT and the Illinois State Police are also reminding people to adjust their following distance and awareness behind the wheel the first time mother nature delivers snow and ice.
Illinois State Police Trooper Ross Green says too often people forget to adjust their driving practices during the first snow and ice event. “They don’t increase their following distance which then ends up we have the fender-bender accidents and even worse several cars. It really is something we want to stress to everyone that even though it is nice today, that first snow and ice event is coming and we want everyone to be prepared for it.”
Trooper Green says people also need to make sure they give snow plows plenty of room. Plow operator's field of vision is restricted and often they cannot see cars around them.
He says it’s also important to remember not to use cruise control on snow and ice. Checking tire wear, car phone chargers and replacing windshield wipers are other winter weather preparedness steps motorist can take. Green says it can also come in handy to put extra windshield washer fluid in the car for winter months.
The Peoria Public Works Department’s snow plow fleet, sodium chloride and salt supply are ready and waiting for inclement weather. Sie Maroon is with the Superintendent of Operations for Public Works. He says it might also be useful for people to know the city pre-treats the roads with a brine before winter weather events.
“Just know that that’s not going to hurt their vehicle. Obviously we don’t want to spray their car down with it, it has salt in it. But if they see that, just give our truck that opportunity. But that’s going to cause some frustration because it could be a day like today that we’re putting brine down on the street.”
Maroon says when the snow makes its way to Peoria, city plows will follow the plan they’ve used in years past. He says they’ll continue to cover the primary routes until it quits snowing. But if two inches falls before it quits, the plows will move in and begin clearing the secondary routes too.
Maroon says if it’s a long snow event, sometimes the secondary streets don’t get cleared as fast as people might like or need. He says in that case, if people have some sort of special or medical need to get out sooner and they let the public works department know, the plow drivers will make a special effort to get to that street sooner.