As Chicago-area residents cringed under another 2 to 4 inches of snow on Sunday and the promise of brutally cold temperatures this week, city cleanup crews continued plowing side streets and removing new snow, and federal officials vowed to work to strengthen protections that keep lake water from flooding Lake Shore Drive.
About 175 snow-fighting trucks rolled out at 5:30 a.m. Sunday on main roads in response to a heavier-than-expected snowfall. The trucks and 319 heavy-equipment vehicles then traveled to side streets on Sunday to clear “trouble spots” and areas that would hinder garbage trucks in alleys, said Matt Smith, spokesman for the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation.
Though patches of snow remained on many side streets, all were passable Sunday night, and regular garbage collections will resume today, Smith said.
The fresh snow sent residents back out into the street, shovels in hand.
Last week’s storm caught more than a thousand cars on Lake Shore Drive, with drivers having to abandon their vehicles. By Sunday, 16 cars sat unclaimed. The vehicles are now at 400 E. Lower Wacker Drive.
Despite the crisis on Lake Shore Drive, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said the situation could have been much worse if water had swamped it. They held an outdoor news conference to urge federal and city officials to find a way to fill in at least five gaps along the shoreline where future storms could wreak havoc.
The bitter cold is expected to remain in the area through Thursday – with highs only expected to reach 12 degrees and lows as cold as minus-7 degrees.
www.suntimes.com
