Oak Lawn Activates Snow Plow Plan of Attack

The south suburbs and northwest Indiana seem to be winning the snow lotto, with heavy wet snow of 4 to 8 inches predicted for Wednesday.

Oak Lawn’s public works department is readying its fleet of 13 plows and six trucks to stay ahead of the storm.

• CHECK TODAY’S WEATHER FORECAST

To better understand the village’s snow and salting procedures, Oak Lawn is divided into 13 quadrants, where each quadrant has its own plow, supplemented by six trucks equipped with plow blades.

Following is Oak Lawn’s SNOW ATTACK plan:

• The village’s main arterial streets, including 95th Street (U.S. 12-20) and Cicero Avenue (U.S. 50) get plowed and/or salted first;

• followed by main snow routes

• Minor snow routes

• All other village streets and alleys.

The Village of Oak Lawn DOES NOT plow or salt:

• 103rd Street from Cicero to Central Avenue (Cook County);

• Central and Ridgeland Avenues, from 87th to 111th Streets (Cook County);

• All of 87th Street that runs through Oak Lawn, on the south side of the street (Cook County)

• Pulaski Road between 93rd and 111th Streets, which gets plowed by IDOT;

• Harlem Avenue (IDOT).

It would also help hasten plowing if residents would not park their cars on the streets.

The village has designated snow routes, on which cars are prohibited from parking after one-inch of snowfall.

In addition, there is an odd-even ordinance in place for side streets. If a snow emergency is enacted, cars may not park on the even-numbered side of the street on even-numbered calendar days, and visa versa.

Today (Wednesday, Feb. 24) is an even-numbered day. Park on the odd-numbered side of the street.

Also, homeowners and business owners are required to shovel their sidewalks in front of their homes and buildings.

Wind gusts have already been reported at 45-mph, please be mindful of white-outs and dangerous driving conditions during tonight’s rush hour.

Also, the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning which remains in effect until 4 a.m. Thursday.

Don’t forget to check on your elderly loved ones and neighbors. After you’ve finished your own shoveling, lend a hand to your neighbors who may not be able to remove snow from their walks and properties.

We’ve also included the Village of Oak Lawn’s helpful snow and ice brochure for more information.

Village of Oak Lawn Snow-Ice Removal Plan