 The goal of the City of O’Fallon Public Works Department is to provide snow and ice control in a timely and cost-efficient manner. During ice or snow conditions, the Public
Works Department’s Operations Group applies de-icer and plows snow. There are two phases for ice control and snow plowing: (1) when snow or ice conditions exist, salt is applied to the pavement based on public safety needs; and (2) depending on the pavement conditions and forecast, snow plowing will likely commence when three inches of snow accumulates. It is our standard practice to avoid salting roads in newer subdivisions as repeated salting of new concrete leads to rapid deterioration of that material.
Conditions such as blowing snow, continual freezing rain, accumulation, forecast conditions, or the need to assist with high priority state and township roadways vary for each snow and ice event. Accordingly, some streets or classes of streets may not be treated. Snow and ice removal goals are set primarily to afford public safety crews the ability to provide emergency services. General travel, commerce and individual convenience issues take a lower priority and are not always able to be accommodated. An ongoing assessment is made during snow and ice removal operations regarding when to discontinue removal operations.
Priority rankings are as follows:
- Emergency vehicle access to designated “Snow Routes”
- “Snow Emergency Routes” as adopted by the City Council
- Roadway surfaces serving City, Township, County, State and Federal facilities
- Roadway surfaces serving schools
- Major intersections
- Secondary arterial connectors
- Subdivision through streets
How Residents Can Help:
- Don’t drive if you don’t have to.
- Drive safely and have appropriate tires on your vehicle. Do not drive until you have properly cleared windows of obstructions, and replaced worn windshield wipers.
- 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 you live on a “Snow Emergency Route” you are not allowed to park your vehicle on the street during a snow storm when three inches or more of snow has accumulated and plowing has begun.
- Make sure that basketball goals and other obstructions are not placed in or adjacent to the street. They pose a hazard to snow plowing crews and to the traveling public.
- Do not push or place snow in front of a neighbor’s property or on top of storm drains.
- Do not plow snow into travel lanes or leave snow on sidewalks or in street gutters. Keep your street gutter clean for drainage; don’t cause ponding of snow melt that can turn into ice.
- Clean snow from around fire hydrants and be careful you do not block the hydrants when you shovel snow.
- Owners of private parking lots are responsible for removing their own snow. Do not expect City crews to pick up piles of snow pushed onto the street from private parking lots. The snow pile could remain for an extended period causing potential safety hazards and the possibility of liability for the property owner.
- Property owners are responsible for clearing their driveway approaches and around mailboxes. Snow plowing operations may inconvenience property owners when snow is plowed in front of driveways or by mailboxes. However, we cannot respond to requests to clear driveways or mailboxes – our priority is keeping roads open for emergency service providers. However, residents with medical conditions should notify City Hall if they need any emergency assistance.
- Be patient; snow removal takes time. It is possible that not every street in the City will get plowed.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: How big is O’Fallon and what resources do we have on hand to respond to snow and ice events?
A: The City of O’Fallon is approximately 14 square miles in size and Public Works performs snow and ice control operations on approximately 361 lane miles of streets, assuming a standard lane width of 12 feet.
Our fleet includes eight three-ton plow trucks with salt spreaders as the primary de-icing and snow removal tool. Since 2002, we have used approximately 1,330 tons of salt annually in response to a total of 47 snow and ice events. Last year was an unusually busy year with ten events requiring the use of more than 1,100 tons of salt in response to an estimated 9.8 inches of snow and ice. We currently have salt on hand in excess of our standard year’s demand, but a heavy season may require a more restrained response if supplies become unavailable.
Q. Why doesn’t my street get plowed?
A. The City of O’Fallon’s areas of concentration are emergency service and known hazardous areas, arterial street intersections, school district areas, followed by collector street intersections within commercial and residential areas, and then remaining street intersections and trouble spots. Residential streets with relatively low volume of traffic are not top priority and are not always treated. Streets with higher volumes of traffic are given priority due to those volumes and often higher speeds, which create a more hazardous situation than a residential street with low traffic volume and low speeds.
Q: Who else plows snow from the streets in the City?
A: Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), St. Clair County, O’Fallon Township, and Caseyville Township all provide snow removal services on various streets within the City of O’Fallon.
Q: Where are snow routes located?
A: According to the City of O’Fallon Code of Ordinances, Chapter 78, Parking Schedules, snow routes are:
- Auto Court Drive
- Cambridge Boulevard
- Central Park Drive
- Colleen Drive (Walnut to Nancy)
- Dartmouth Drive (S. Lincoln to DeSoto)
- Deer Creek Road
- DeSoto Drive (Dartmouth to Matthew)
- Edgewood Drive (Timber Creek to Hawthorne)
- Erics Run (Nottinghill to Keck Ridge)
- Fairwood Hills Drive
- First Street (S. Lincoln to Vine)
- Greystone Place (Nottinghill to Thornbury)
- Hartman Lane (Hwy. 50 to Terrace Green)
- Hawthorne Place
- Hearthstone Drive
- Highway 50 (Old Collinsville to Hartman)
- Illini Drive
- Juniper Drive (Willow to Persimmon)
- Keck Ridge Drive
- Kyle Road
- Lincoln Avenue (Hwy. 50 to Robert)
- Lincoln Farm Rd.
- Longfellow Drive (Merriam Pkwy. to Hightower)
- Madison (Obernuefemann to Persimmon)
- Matthew (Dartmouth to Princeton)
- Merriam Parkway (Milburn School Rd. to Longfellow & portions contained by or adjacent to City Boundary)
- Moye School Road
- Nancy Drive (Colleen to Ruth)
- Natalyns Trace
- New Car Drive
- Nottinghill (Greystone to Erics Run)
- Obernuefemann Road
- Old Collinsville Road (Hwy. 50 to RR & all areas adjacent to City Boundary)
- Old Vincennes (Seven Hills to Scott Troy)
- Park Plaza Drive
- Pausch Road (Milburn School to Larkway)
- Persimmon Drive (Milburn School Rd. to Larkway)
- Persimmon Drive (W. Madison to Juniper)
- Pierce Boulevard
- Planters Crossing (Nottinghill to Keck Ridge)
- Porter Road
- Princeton Drive (Vanderbilt to Dartmouth)
- Regency Park Drive
- Ruth Drive (Nancy to S. Lincoln)
- Rutherford Ridge
- Savoy (Terracotta to Ingleside)
- Schwaegel Road (Hwy. 50 to State)
- Second Street (S. Lincoln to Vine)
- Seven Hills Road (portions contained by or adjacent to City Boundary)
- Shadow Ridge Crossing (Wildwood to E. Wesley)
- Simmons Road (portions contained by or adjacent to City Boundary)
- Smiley Street (Hwy. 50 to 200’ north of Shallowbrook)
- Southview Drive
- St. Nicholas
- State Street
- Summerlin Ridge (N. Lincoln to Lincoln Farm)
- Terracotta
- Third Street
- Thornbury Place
- Timber Creek
- Torchlight Lane
- Treybrook (Scott Troy to Terracotta)
- Venita Drive
- Victoria (Moye School to Thornbury)
- Vine Street (State to Second)
- Walnut Street
- Weber Drive (Hwy. 50 to Third)
- Weil Road (portions contained by or adjacent to City Boundary)
- Wesley Drive (N. Lincoln to Seven Hills)
- Westminster Drive (S. Lincoln to Princeton)
- Wildwood Lane
- Willow Drive
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