Chicago Has Gone Through Half Its Snow Plow Budget
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 11, 2014 4:00PM
Thankfully Friday's rains did what Streets and Sanitation couldn't earlier in the week because the city has already spent half of its allotted budget for snow removal.
City spokesman Bill McCaffery said $11.2 million has been spent on snow removal since New Years Eve. Most of that money—$7.2 million—went toward salt that barely made a dent on the snow and ice during the polar vortex.
The city has recorded 23 inches of snowfall this season to date and the city's road salt supply is down to 100,000 tons, down from 280,000 tons, although Streets and Sanitation commissioner Charles Williams said that supply is being replenished daily and explained that was why trucks were on a one load per truck limit late in the week.
In addition, the Chicago Department of Transportation has put pothole crews on overnight and weekend duty earlier than intended to deal with the emergency potholes that come up at this time of year. They'll certainly find plenty of potholes to fill.