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Post by EagleDad on Feb 1, 2011 12:23:03 GMT -6
Dear District 204 Community, Due to the blizzard warning that has been issued for our area, all schools in District 204 will be closed on Wednesday, February 2. All after-school and evening activities in all our buildings have been cancelled for today, Tuesday, February 1 and tomorrow, Wednesday, February 2. Visit the district's website at www.ipsd.org for updates as they become available. Please stay safe and warm over the next few days. Kathy Birkett Superintendent |
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Post by EagleDad on Feb 1, 2011 12:25:13 GMT -6
I just want to say, that when we were kids, we earned our snow days the hard way, with well, actual snow.
This totally takes all the fun out of it. We are a society of complete wimps.
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Post by EagleDad on Feb 2, 2011 19:03:07 GMT -6
Tomorrow's closing strikes me as unnecessary. The roads are fine. Trucks will be out all night and backstreets will be fine. The only issue I see is walkers as some people are not clearing their walks, but that won't change over the next few days, and I imagine many parents seeing that would drive.
Is there something on the facilities side preventing school?
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Feb 2, 2011 20:00:39 GMT -6
With 20" of snow plus -35 degree wind chills, equipment tends to break and is definitely in short supply. Side streets and cul de sacs are not plowed (south side) as of 8 pm this evening. Bus stops will be difficult to navigate until more of this snow is cleared away. Much better move to play it safe.
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Post by Arch on Feb 3, 2011 9:36:40 GMT -6
Our neighborhood was full of idiots in trucks packing snow up 6-7 feet ON THE CORNERS that people ALREADY CLEARED OUT for the kids to walk on the sidewalks.
After digging them out 3 times yesterday I said screw it and let the 4th time some dipshit did this stay where it is... So now my corner (AGAIN) has all the sidewalks blocked.
How difficult is it to figure out that you push the snow a but down the street and pack it into the side area between driveways or along the sides of houses AND NOT THE CORNER WHERE KIDS NEED TO WALK AND USE AS A BUS STOP?!?!?!
Morons... the city contracted out morons....
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Post by EagleDad on Feb 3, 2011 11:01:36 GMT -6
I stood outside with my shovel in my driveway and watched the city guy clear out culdesac for that reason (so he knew I was watching  ). They didn't show until about 6PM, but they did a great job given the circumstances when they did. One of the problems with my house is I am on a huge culdesac (I'd say 300feet in diameter), and there is very little room to put the snow. They used to pile it in the middle, but someone told me kids would play on it and one almost got hit by a car so they stopped. So instead, he just trying to cram it into my yard. Luckily the walk stayed mostly open, but I now have a 10 foot high, 30 foot deep wall of snow. I'd kinda bizarre as you can't see out from my house any more, like we're behind a bunker. |
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Feb 3, 2011 12:15:49 GMT -6
One must remember that with 20" of snow the last thing the snow plow operator is going to worry about is keeping sidewalks at corners cleared.
Our cul de sac has not been cleared as of noon, no worry though, as 4 neighbors all chipped in years ago fro a big snow blower and cleared paths to each driveway with the snow blower. It never ceases to amaze me that folks think city services can deal with these type events and get everyone back on line in 24 hours. It just ain't gonna happen.
I bet the editorials will be full of complaining Napertuckians concerned about cul de sac cleaning. Don't like the way the city does snow plowing, just do it yourself... There are 140K residents in town, not everyone will have city services back at the same time.
Don't forget to help neighbors that do not have the capacity to clean their property.
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Post by Arch on Feb 3, 2011 13:10:22 GMT -6
These were corners RIGHT BY THE SCHOOL... on the 2 main artery streets for the entire neighborhood. In addition to blocking a Pace stop, 3 Stops for D204 and the busiest walking intersection for the elementary school -- when they pack it that high cars can not see around the intersection and it creates a VERY HAZARDOUS CONDITION because you can not see if someone else is coming or if they may have trouble stopping for the intersection.
They took their time ramming and cramming it in 10 minutes at a time each time they came by... They were idiots. Plain and simple.
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Post by doctorwho on Feb 3, 2011 13:10:30 GMT -6
Tomorrow's closing strikes me as unnecessary. The roads are fine. Trucks will be out all night and backstreets will be fine. The only issue I see is walkers as some people are not clearing their walks, but that won't change over the next few days, and I imagine many parents seeing that would drive. Is there something on the facilities side preventing school? going to bet it's bus related-- I know Benet was closed today because 203 & Lisle buses were not running |
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Post by doctorwho on Feb 3, 2011 13:12:10 GMT -6
Our neighborhood was full of idiots in trucks packing snow up 6-7 feet ON THE CORNERS that people ALREADY CLEARED OUT for the kids to walk on the sidewalks. After digging them out 3 times yesterday I said screw it and let the 4th time some dipshit did this stay where it is... So now my corner (AGAIN) has all the sidewalks blocked. How difficult is it to figure out that you push the snow a but down the street and pack it into the side area between driveways or along the sides of houses AND NOT THE CORNER WHERE KIDS NEED TO WALK AND USE AS A BUS STOP?!?!?! Morons... the city contracted out morons.... likely all that was left-- |
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Post by EagleDad on Feb 3, 2011 13:24:25 GMT -6
Our cul de sac has not been cleared as of noon, no worry though, as 4 neighbors all chipped in years ago fro a big snow blower and cleared paths to each driveway with the snow blower. It never ceases to amaze me that folks think city services can deal with these type events and get everyone back on line in 24 hours. It just ain't gonna happen. personally, I didn't worry, or complain here is how I got out of mine:  It helped to drive a lifted Jeep Wrangler with 16 inches of ground clearance, and oversize mud tires. Helped a few of my neighbors get out too.  |
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Post by EagleDad on Feb 3, 2011 13:43:26 GMT -6
I'm just glad I didn't have to shovel all of that. Our culdesac is 60 feet by 80 feet. At 20 inches depth, and 15 lbs/cu ft of snow, they had to push 63 tons of snow off our culdesac alone (with the little 'ole F350 that showed up). Although today my back feels like it moved that from 120 feet of sidewalk I shoveled  |
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Feb 3, 2011 18:32:04 GMT -6
Eagle dad nice pics, glad to see something was able to navigate the storm. We watched as a 4 wheel drive Lexus suv tried in vain to navigate a lot less snow.
Arch, I noted that every corner down our main drag was filled with 5-6 foot snow hills, your neighborhood is not alone.
Our supt. issued directions for students using bus transportation to go to the nearest clear driveway if the stops are full of snow. Drivers beware students may be parked in YOUR driveway waiting for bus transportation.
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Post by EagleDad on Feb 3, 2011 18:45:52 GMT -6
An excellent point, with the low visibility due to high banks we all need to be extra careful around driveways and corners. I have 8-10 foot snow banks around my driveway and on my corner.
I left for work early today and just drove home I was surprised how bad many of the roads still are. There wasn't much if any difference from when I left. Guess that salt isn't working much if at all in these cold temps.
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Post by doctorwho on Feb 3, 2011 22:18:38 GMT -6
I'm just glad I didn't have to shovel all of that. Our culdesac is 60 feet by 80 feet. At 20 inches depth, and 15 lbs/cu ft of snow, they had to push 63 tons of snow off our culdesac alone (with the little 'ole F350 that showed up). Although today my back feels like it moved that from 120 feet of sidewalk I shoveled \it's been an Advil day for me also --the bottom half of driveway was 5'+ deep across- as my house sits at the end of a t street and the wind just drilled the front of my house |
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). They didn't show until about 6PM, but they did a great job given the circumstances when they did. One of the problems with my house is I am on a huge culdesac (I'd say 300feet in diameter), and there is very little room to put the snow. They used to pile it in the middle, but someone told me kids would play on it and one almost got hit by a car so they stopped.
