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1. What does the Department do to avoid icing on the street?

The Highway Department utilizes liquid deicers for anti-icing and pre-wetting operations. Anti-icing is the application of a blend of salt brine and a high performance liquid deicer (BEET HEET) on selected pavements before a snow or ice event. Anti-icing is intended to disrupt the bond that forms between ice particles and the pavement surface. 

The Salt Institute estimates that pre-event anti-icing can be ten times more effective than deicing with granular salt after ice and snow have bonded to the road surface. By preventing this bond from occurring, ice and snow can be removed from the roadway much easier, allowing the Highway Department to reach bare pavement much quicker. 

Anti-icing allows the Highway Department to clean up snow events much quicker while using much less material. Pre-wetting is the process of spraying salt with a liquid deicer (BEET HEET) before spreading the salt on the roadway. Rock salt can’t melt ice until a liquid brine is created. 

Pre-wetting the salt speeds up the “brining process” thereby speeding up the melting action. Pre-wetting salt with a liquid deicer substantially increases the ice melting capacity of rock salt allowing the Highway Department to reduce the amount of salt applied to the roadway, thereby reducing material costs and overall chloride emissions to our local environment.

2. What is BEET HEET?

BEET HEET concentrate is a corrosion inhibited, organic based deicer which is 99% biodegradable and carries the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Design for the Environment stamp of approval. BEET HEET concentrate contains a highly refined "sugared" molasses carbohydrate, two exothermic chlorides and two non-exothermic chlorides. Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) and Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2) are both exothermic chlorides. They perform much better than Sodium Chloride (NaCl) and Potassium Chloride (KCl) because they have twice the number of chloride ions, 2 vs. 1 for NaCl and KCl. BEET HEET does not contain "de-sugared" molasses (Beet Juice).

3. Why is snow piled on my corner?

Snow that accumulates across side roads and street corners needs to be pushed onto the corner to allow cars to turn. The snow is pushed back in the direction the truck is traveling so some corners may get more snow than others. 

Snow piled at a street corner is of particular concern where there are school bus stops. If the snow accumulates at a bus stop, children may have to move up the street to board the bus. Please instruct children not to climb on the piles that have accumulated. 

If a snow pile on a particular corner becomes a sight distance problem, please call the Highway Department at 847-244-1101, ext. *301.

4. Why is snow left at the end of my driveway?

There is no practical way for the snow plow operator to cut off the windrow of snow when crossing a driveway. This problem is especially acute on cul-de-sacs, which are very confined spaces that require the snow be placed along the outside of the circle. The problem is compounded by the fact that homeowners must clear their driveways, which places large piles of snow on the corners of the drive. It is extremely difficult for trucks to push snow onto a center island of a cul-de-sac. However, our goal is to maintain as much of the normal pavement width as possible and to allow access to mailboxes by postal carriers. 

To reduce the amount of snow that is plowed in front of your driveway, blow or shovel the snow to the right side of your drive as you face the street. This reduces the chance of previously removed snow from being pushed back onto the drive.