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The Springfield area was expected to get close to eight inches of snow Monday accompanied by single-digit temperatures and wind gusts of up to 25 MPH making for wind chills in the 20-below range.
The snow affected area travel and schools.
Alex Erwin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln, said Springfield and Sangamon County remains under a winter storm warning until 6 a.m. Tuesday
2 months ago in Local Dave Dahl Photo: Saga Communications
Rail consolidation again plays a big role in the Springfield public works calendar.
“The Fifth and Sixth Street underpass work will continue,” said public works director Nate Bottom (pictured) after his budget presentation to aldermen Thursday, adding that Fifth closes between Broad Place and Iles Avenue from Friday at 7 p.m. to Monday, Feb. 8, at 3 p.m. for Norfolk Southern bridge construction. “The Laurel Street underpass should wrap up in the summer, maybe the fall, and then we are also planning on starting construction, which will probably occur in the summer, for the Cook and South Grand underpasses.”
Photo: Saga Communications
The New Year’s time brought a test for Springfield snow crews,
“A majority of streets are within a quarter of a mile of a primary arterial street,” said city public works director Nate Bottom (pictured), “so we make sure those are cleared first, and then we move on to secondary, or ‘event-specific’ streets.”
Bottom told aldermen Tuesday those “event-specific” streets would not necessarily be salted all the time. “We range from 3,000 to 9,000 tons of salt that we utilize every year,” adding it’s stored at facilities at Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Clear Lake Avenue and also at Prairie Crossing. Bottom says the latter is also “covered to keep the salt intact.”