St. Charles Provides Snowplow Safety Tips

Submission by the city of St. Charles

As the plows are out clearing snow or salting this winter, please keep these safety tips in mind:

• Remind children to stay clear of snowplows. When driving, stay back at least 100 feet from moving plows and don’t pass them.
• Yield the right-of-way to vehicles with flashing lights that are plowing, salting or performing maintenance work.
• Do not blow snow removed from your driveway into the street. It creates dangerous situations for others and violates city ordinances.
• Pile snow on the right side of the driveway (when facing the roadway from your home) to avoid as snow pushback from passing plows.
• Keep sidewalks clear.
• Clear fire hydrants.
• There is no parking on streets marked within the Snow Route after a 2” snowfall. A citywide parking ban on all streets goes into effect when 3” or more of snow has accumulated. The Police Department will begin enforcing the parking regulations one hour after accumulations.

If you believe your mailbox was damaged by a City plow, contact Public Works at pw@stcharlesil.gov or 630-377-4405, Monday – Friday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

“The City maintains approximately 171 miles of local roadways, and coordinates maintenance, including plowing operations, for certain sections of State and County routes that run through the City limits,” said AJ Reineking, Public Works Manager. “Our computerized forecasting system allows us to monitor the weather so crews can be scheduled and ready to respond around-the-clock.”