Recovering From the Snowstorm Hangover

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Jan 6, 2005 4:17PM

Well, we made it. The storm that some are calling the the first big snowfall since 2002 is supposed to be ending this morning. What'd we get out of it? 9-12 inches.

The IL DOT says sent out more than 330 trucks, which iced and plowed about 9,000 miles of interstates and roads, but most of us opted to take public transportation without a problem. Except the huge puddles in the stations that don't drain. Grand Red Line Station, we're talking to you! During every big storm the CTA sees a spike in ridership. The
City is trying out some corn-based anti-icing spray that could be a more environmentally friendly way to keep the streets clear. The de-icer is called Caliber M1000 and is supposed to be 70% less corrosive than salt. Washington and Colorado are already using the de-icer which is sprayed onto roads both before and after storms and is also reapplied each week.

All together, O'Hare had more than 600 flights scheduled to leave or arrive that were cancelled as of Wednesday afternoon. Midway had less, with 19 inbound and 17 outbound flights cancelled.

While Chicagoist tends to stay bundled up inside during snow storms, others like to go outside for some adventure. Many were disappointed to find out that toboggan slides will not open this year. The slides will remain closed for the entire winter season due to safety concerns. In the past the slides would be open on a day-to-day basis and as weather conditions permitted. People could then call a hotline to see if the slides were operating. But not this year.

Not too worry, winter adventurer: Snowmobile trails in Lake County opened on Wednesday. While they remained closed in Cook County, officials said that they'd probably open Thursday if we got a big more snow. Which we did.

Finally, the most controversial issue of the storm: Dibs on parking spots. That's right, claiming the right to a space on a public road, like "save seats" but with cars. On Tuesday, Mayor Daley said it was cool and that if you shovel a parking space you have the right to put a chair or whatever piece of crap placeholder you want to save the spot, just so they're removed within 48 hours. He added, "We don't want anyone to have any . . . fights or arguments in regards to those who clean in front of their houses."

Eric Zorn, who happens to oppose the tradition, has both a forum and a poll on his site. The results of the poll? Just about 30% of us think that dibs are dumb and we shouldn't do them, while almost 40% think it's only cool when there's 8 inches or more snow. We're split down the middle when asked if we think we should be able to save a parking space we didn't shovel and that was only clear because our car was covering the area. As for claiming dibs on a parking spot in front of someone else's house - do it and die! Respondants are split about how long we should be able to keep dibs on a spot and also divided about what punishment is due to people who violate dibs. Ana apparently a lot of us are admitting to having junk in our basements so hideous that we wouldn't ever put it out to save a parking spot.