Snow and Ice Control
The Gurnee Public Works Department is responsible for the Village’s snow and ice control operations on 243 centerline miles of public streets and 350 cul-de-sac and dead end streets within the corporate limits of the Village. The Public Works Department operates under the guidance of the 2023-2024 Snow and Ice Control Plan, which establishes control methods and procedures for winter weather events designed to reduce threats to public safety and the traveling public. The procedures established provide details pertaining to the personnel, equipment and materials to be used on the Village’s 11 designated plow routes during SIC operations. View a map of the Village's snow routes.
Salting operations typically begin as streets become slippery, while snowplowing operations commence when more than one (1) inch of snow has accumulated on Village streets. SIC operations are conducted simultaneously on all of Village’s 11 plow routes to ensure uniform coverage of critical areas such as main arterial roads, intersections, curves, hills, and school zones. During an average 4” snowfall a single pass is designed to take between 4-6 hours but the intensity and duration of a storm can drastically affect response times.
Salt use is minimized for environmental benefits and to reduce the impact on the local watershed. Public Works utilizes liquid ice melting chemicals to pre-treat granular salt before spreading it on the roadway. Pre-wetting the salt helps reduce scattering off the target roadway, increases the effectiveness of salt at lower temperatures, and provides the necessary moisture speed up the ice melting process.
Who Clears State And County Roads
The Village of Gurnee is bisected by a number of State of Illinois and Lake County arterial highways, but the Village does not maintain any roads that fall under the jurisdiction of another agency. The roadways identified below are NOT the responsibility of the Village of Gurnee.
Rt. 132 (Grand Ave.), Rt. 41 (Skokie Highway), Rt. 21 (Milwaukee Ave.), Rt. 120 (Belvidere Rd.), and Rt. 45 are plowed and maintained by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). They can be reached at 847-244-0034.
Hunt Club Road, Washington Street, O’Plaine Road, Greenleaf Avenue (south of Washington), Dilley’s Road (north of Rt. 132), Gages Lake Road, Delany Road (north of Rt. 41), Sunset Ave and Stearns School Road are plowed and maintained by the Lake County Division of Transportation (LCDOT). They can be reached at 847-377-7400.