2021/02/17 - Mayor's Column: Snow and Cold Temperatures
“An Open Door to O’Fallon”
A Weekly Note from Mayor Herb Roach
Winter weather brings the good and the bad. As a family man, I enjoy watching my grandchildren play in the snow, sledding, and building snowmen. But, as Mayor, winter weather means mobilization of the City’s ice and snow removal team. Over the past few weeks, we have been hit with significant snowfall, O’Fallon’s dedicated staff worked hard to keep our roads safe.
Snow removal takes great preparation and strategy. Snow removal is not easy….and it is not cheap!
Over the past week, we have treated all the City’s 67 miles of snow routes continuously. These streets need to have priority because they are major roadways for all citizens, emergency vehicles, and school buses. Work began on Monday, February 8th with pretreatment and moved into snow removal as nighttime came. Crews worked throughout the day and night while the snow was coming down. On Tuesday morning, we were able to begin plowing curb-to-curb on snow routes as the snow subsided. But when the snow began to fall again on Wednesday morning, we were forced to focus on keeping the snow routes passable. The freezing temperatures did not help with the snow and ice removal.
With temperatures dropping to extremely low levels, there is serious concern about refreezing. If the City were to treat less frequently traveled roadways, the salt will melt the packed snow which would then cause it to refreeze overnight. This would result in the roads becoming extremely icy, slick, and likely impassable.
On President’s Day, we again saw a large amount of snowfall. We began treating the snow routes at 8 p.m. the night before the predicted winter storm. Our crews again continuously treated the roadways, focusing on snow routes. With the accumulations predicted, we plan on treating all roadways. However, we cannot start on the side streets until the snow has stopped and the snow routes are clear. With the rate at which the snow was falling, it takes all of our efforts to just keep the snow routes passable. Our shorter and less traveled streets are going to be serviced. You are not alone if your road has not been visited yet by a snow plow and treated, neither has mine.
As you can see, winter weather has a large impact on local governments. We try our very best to keep the roadways safe and passible. Our plows may not get to you immediately, but be assured, we are working hard. Please keep this in mind the next time snow is forecasted.
I want to thank all the neighbors and others who helped those that needed some help with personal driveways and sidewalks. We issued a CodeRed Alert about being outside only if needed, and asked our residents on snow routes to remove all items and vehicles from the streets to assist the crews in getting the roads cleared.
On a separate note, with the State moving into less restrictive COVID mitigation tiers, we have decided to reopen City Hall. City Council, Committee, and Planning Commission Meetings are once again open to the public for in-person attendance. We are limited to the first ten people who sign up for in-person attendance, which can be done at City Hall anytime before the meeting.
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open!