Politics & Government

Oak Forest Preps for First Major Snow of the Season

Oak Forest public works employees and ComEd are ready for the first snowfall of the year, with plowing and salting plans, and power outage reporting and restoration plans in place.

Get ready Oak Forest, there's white stuff coming and there could be a lot of it. The National Weather Service is calling for between 2 and 4 inches of snow overnight Thursday, Dec. 20, through Friday, Dec. 21.

Should Oak Forest see snow, Oak Forest public works workers will hit the streets in plow and salt trucks to clear paths for residents on all 152 miles of city streets and the city's 93 culs-de-sac, to make the roadways drivable for Friday's morning commute and beyond.

"Our biggest concern is the high winds, that are going to gust up to 50 mph, and wet, heavy snow on power lines, that could cause power outages," said Public Works's Richard Rinchich.

Find out what's happening in Oak Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"City trucks are preloaded with salt and ready to go."

Residents should abide by snow parking guidelines, which prohibit parking on streets for 12 hours after snow of 2 inches or more. 

Find out what's happening in Oak Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Violators could receive tickets or be towed. We're not looking to do that, so we're asking residents to move their cars off the streets tonight and help us out."

Public works crews will work to clear all primary and secondary streets in the city to bare pavement within 12 hours of a winter storm, with courts and culs-de-sac cleared within 18 hours of the end of snow fall, According to the city of Oak Forest's website.

Plowing occurs on a continual basis during and after a storm, so residents can expect crews to be working in their neighborhood at least once every 12 hours.

The website notes that snow can accumulate next to the traveled portion of a roadway, which could obstruct a driver's vision of roadways so caution should be taken while driving.

If there is not enough snow to merit plowing, crews will work to salt streets in the same time frame as snow plowing: within 12 hours for primary and secondary streets, and 18 hours for courts and cul-de-sacs.

As the storm looms, ComEd put out a press release to Chicagoland residents with tips to ensure both public safety and how to report outages should they occur.

Should a resident's power go out, ComEd urges residents to call 1-800 EDISON1 (1-800-334-7661), or 1-800-95-LUCES (1-800-955-8237) for Spanish speaking customers. Customers can also report outages at the company's Facebook page, via the company's website, ComEd.com, via Twitter, @ComEd, or by text to 26633 (ComEd).


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here