Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Snow like concrete makes cleanup a hard slog

Back To Front Page

 

By KEVIN NEVERS

How much snow fell?

Doesn’t actually look like a lot, maybe four inches, when you see it in your driveway. Not so much at all, given the fact that it was snowing non-stop for 15 or more hours.

That’s because the snow was so wet, with the consistency almost of slush, that it began compacting as soon as it touched ground.

And that’s the real story of Wednesday’s blizzard, at least in Duneland: the snow’s sheer gloppy mass.

Chesterton Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg told the Chesterton Tribune this morning that it’s taking something like three times longer than usual to clear a street “because the snow is just so wet and heavy.”

“It’s very hard pushing,” he said. “The plows have to make three passes on each side of the street. We even had a couple of dump trucks get stuck last night.”

Even so, to Schnadenberg’s knowledge no roadway in Chesterton was ever impassable, to the point of vehicle’s getting stuck. And as of 8:30 a.m., the main roads were open--scraped clean down to the asphalt--and the plows were still working on side streets. The graveyard shift, after 12 hours, knocked off at 9 a.m., at which time the day crew took over, to take a crack at alleys.

“We’re tying to get into the subdivisions too but it takes so long,” Schnadenberg added.

Town of Porter

Porter Public Works Director Brenda Brueckheimer made much the same report: roads all open, snow sloggingly heavy.

She also had an estimate: 10.5 inches, compacted way down.

Brueckheimer did say that the town’s just passed snow ordinance--banning on-street parking in subdivisions during snowfalls of three or more inches--proved to be a boon to plow drivers. “There were no problems in the subdivisions. Cars were off the streets.”

And in general residents were very “gracious,” Brueckheimer added, despite the inevitable--and unavoidable--way a plow has of leaving a mound of snow at the foot of everyone’s driveway. “We’re trying to do everything we can not to bury people in,” she said. “But it is what it is.”

In the County

The story in the unincorporated areas of Porter County was a little different, however, where vehicles were getting stuck and being abandoned all over the place.

“It seemed everyone was driving Mustangs yesterday,” Highway Superintendent David James joked. “With racing tires. You spit and they spin out.”

The problem, of course, is that a driver who walks away from his car is leaving a clot in the roadway a county plow driver just can’t get through. “We can get the roads plowed all right,” James said. “But we’re running into streets with, like, six cars stuck in them.”

The county’s emergency ban on travel was lifted at 12 p.m., after which time James was hopeful of getting his plow drivers into the subdivisions. “We’re diligently working. By noon we should have the main roads all open. But I doubt we’ll have the snow all curbed in the subdivisions by the end of the day.”

Accidents

Sgt. Jamie Erow, public information for the Porter County Sheriff’s Police, estimated that over the blizzard’s duration there were something like 30 crashes, “a lot” of slide-offs, and in the neighborhood of 20 abandoned vehicles.

The Indiana State Police posted these numbers: between 6 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, across the state, there were 60 personal-injury crashes, 228 slide-offs, and 176 motorist assists.

Lines Down

Lines were reported down in two locations in Porter on Wednesday, Fire Chief Lewis Craig said: a NIPSCO line at 2:12 p.m. in the 600 block of North River Road; and a Comcast or Frontier line at 3:36 p.m. in the 500 block of North Third Street.

The PFD also extinguished a small chimney fire at 8:50 p.m. in the 1100 block of South Vine Street, where residue on a chimney screen ignited. Firefighters put a ladder up to reach the screen--which was reported to be glowing red hot--and doused the fire. There was no extension, Craig said.

 

 

Trash pickup in town delayed one day by snow

Refuse collection in the Town of Chesterton will be delayed one day, in the wake of Wednesday’s blizzard, Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg said.

There will be no trash pickup today.

Thursday’s route will be collected on Friday.

Friday’s route will be collected on Saturday.

 

Posted 2/25/2016

 
 
 
 

 

 

Search This Site:

Custom Search