Rows of snowplows lined up outside the Gateway Building Thurs., as if to say “bring it on, winter!”
The Illinois Department of Transportation, State Police and city and county road crews say they’re ready to respond for the first sign of flurries.
“We can never actually know what Mother Nature’s going to bring, but we’re pretty confident that we have the workforce that’s fired up and ready to go,” James Bell, an IDOT operations maintenance engineer, said.
Aside from clearing snow, IDOT is involved in coordinating with city and county officials on which routes need plowing.
This year, all routes under the city’s jurisdiction will be plowed by public works trucks. Last year, five residential routes were plowed by contractors.
And with that, public works employees are reminding drivers there’s a person inside the giant snow plow trucks.
This will be Dave Brandstatter’s fifth winter behind the wheel of a snow plow.
Brandstatter says he usually starts out a morning shift with a giant cup of coffee. No music. Just chatter on the radio. He says it’s “mostly professional” but there’s also some friendly taunting.
“It might be the way someone’s driving, or what they’re doing at the time,” Brandstatter said. “Maybe a statement, like, ‘are you going to leave it like that?’ So a little bit of pleasant joking back-and-forth.”
He says it helps make his time alone in a truck pass by faster. Each of the city’s 20 trucks has 14 miles to cover on a shift.
“So when you see that truck go by, you might not see it again for a little while. There’s a lot of ground for it to get over. When you’re looking out your window, you don’t always consider those things.”
He says the men and women clearing snow are doing as best they can, sometimes working 12 to 14 hours.
And he adds, please drive slow, if you see his yellow lights.