CHICAGO (WBBM) -- The city says budget-crunching is going to affect snow removal this winter.
Streets and Sanitation Cmdr. Mike Picardi says less salt will be used on side streets this winter, and there could be delays in putting salt spreaders and plows on side streets.
Picardi says removal of yesterday’s two-inch snowfall cost taxpayers nearly 500-thousand dollars, most of it in salt and equipment costs.
Picardi says less salt was put on side streets yesterday than for snow falls last winter, all to save money.
The Streets and San boss says that, to save money on overtime costs, he’ll delay sending salt trucks and plows onto side streets after a weekend snowfall, unless conditions on the side streets become dangerous.
Cmdr. Picardi says the city may be a victim of its own success. He says, “people expect our main streets to be clear of snow and they become extremely impatient when they don’t see their side streets cleaned immediately”.
Still, to cut costs, Picardi is asking Chicagoans to be “patient” when it comes to side street snow removal this winter. He also asks people, when they shovel around their cars, to throw the snow onto the grassy parkway and not into the middle of the street.
Chicago is luckier than most towns in Illinois because it’s in the middle of a two-year deal to buy salt for $40/ton. Picardi says other towns around the state are paying about $140/ton.
Another cost-saving measure is better use of technology. Picardi says that, through the use of radar and cameras, even as far away as McHenry County, the city can put its people on-the-street when the snow is arriving instead of having them sit for hours on the side of the street waiting for the snow and racking up more payroll costs.
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