With the first “real” snow only a few weeks away it is good to review Boone Couny Highway Department’s responsibilities regarding snow removal.. First, which roads are the primary responsibility of the county?
The following is a list of highways the County maintains:
- Angling Road (A-27); Denny road to McHenry County Line
- Beaverton Road (T-33); Hunter Road north to Manchester Road
- Caledonia Road (T-21);Illinois Route 76 north to Hunter Road
- Capron Road (T-41);Angling Road north to Hunter Road(excludes thru the Village of Capron)
- Cherry Valley Road (A-64);Winnebago county Line southeast to DeKalb County Line
- Crawford Road (A-49);Garden Prairie Road east to McHenry County Line
- Denny Road (T-41);Grange Hall Road north to Angling Road
- Garden Prairie Road (T-41);Crawford Road north to Woodstock Road
- Genoa Road (T-40);U.S. Route 20 southeast to DeKalb County line
- Grange Hall Road (T-41);Russellville Road east to Denny Road
- Kirkland Road (T-25);Cherry Valley Road south to DeKalb County line
- Logan Avenue (A-40);Belvidere Road to US Route 20
- Manchester Road (A-12);Winnebago County line east to State Line Road
- Poplar Grove Road (T-31);Kishwaukee River Bridge north to approx. one quarter mile south of Whiting Road and one half mile north of Illinois Route 173 north to Hunter Road
- Russellville Road (T-41)Woodstock Road north to Grange Hall Road
- State Line Road (A-12);Manchester Road east to Salt Box Road (Walworth, Wisconsin)
- Woodstock Road (A-32);Poplar Grove Road east to McHenry County line
Above is taken from the following: County Road List | Boone County, Illinois
Second what the citizens should expect from the county?
What are the County policies regarding snow plowing
Home › What are the County policies regarding snow plowing
As was previously stated, one of the maintenance responsibilities is snow removal. While every highway authority provides snow removal in some form, they all provide a very different level of services depending on who the authority is. This variation in level of services is due to the availability of resources, or lack thereof. For example, the State has enough resources to run snow plows 24 hours a day, if necessary, by using temporary employees. On the other hand, the county has a far more limited number of maintenance employees, making a 24 hour per day snow removal operation impossible under the current limitations. Townships often have even fewer resources than the county, which limits their operations as well.
In order to minimize overtime expenditures the county tries to perform snow plowing operations during normal business hours (7 A.M. to 3:30 P.M.) However, there are times when that is not feasible without compromising the safety to the public. When work outside normal business hours is required, the county uses the following general guidelines:
As a general rule, the county makes every attempt to keep all the county roads passable during the time when a majority of the public will be at or traveling to/from work (7A.M to 6 P.M.), Monday through Friday. If through the night there is substantial snowfall of if wind causes substantial drifting of now, plowing operations will begin usually around 4:00 A.M. so that at least one round can be completed on all roads. On weekends starting times may be a little later in the morning.
If snowfall is minimal or has quit completely and drifting is not significant, snow plowing operations will stop by 3:30. If however, there is significant snowfall or drifting anticipated the county will generally stay on the roads until 5 or 6 P.M. The county may stay out until as late at 8 P.M. or so, although this is rare. The maintenance worker that is out until 8 P.M. is the same one that will be out the following morning at 4 A.M. Driving a snow plow truck, especially while it is dark and when there is little visibility, is a very exhausting job and rest for the driver is very important the safety of the worker as well as for the general public. Rarely will the county ever be out between 8:00 P.M. and 4:00 A.M. For this reason, we suggest that traveling during this time period be kept to an absolute minimum during inclement roadway conditions.
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