Garbage Pickup
Tuesday's garbage pickup in the City of Monroe was canceled due to poor weather. Garbage will be picked up as normal next Tuesday, Feb. 12. Residents will be allowed to put out two bags of trash at no cost instead of the normal one.
MONROE - Tuesday and Wednesday's huge snowstorm may be a memory now, but its leftovers are having negative after-effects.
Roads are still not in ideal driving condition and removing snow is taking time.
"It's slow going," said Kelly Finkenbinder, Monroe's Director of Public Works, said of efforts to clear snow from city streets.
Visibility at intersections is restricted because of piles of snow on the corners and on terraces. He said drivers need to be cautious when driving and allow extra time.
Street Department trucks and crews are spread out today, trying to pick up snow from the Square as well as trying to get garbage picked up, in addition to their normal road clearing work.
Finkenbinder said the crews will be moving from the Square to parking lots and then sidewalks and alleys. "By then, it'll be time to snow again," he said.
"It's kind of mealy out there," Finkenbinder said of roads. "With the snow getting hard-packed down during the storm, now the salt and warmer weather is working on it.
"We'll get the primary roads done again - try to get those down to bare pavement."
Lafayette County roads were kept open through the snow storm. But Highway Commissioner Tom Jean said they are still snow-covered and slippery.
"This skiff of snow we got last night didn't help us any," he said this morning.
The brief period of sun Thursday morning was a welcome help.
"We'll take anything we can get," Jean said. "If the sun would just stay out, it would break up some of the patches of packed snow on the roads."
But the forecast this weekend is for strong winds on Saturday.
"We're trying to widen the roads out before the winds come up this weekend," Jean said. "We'll be working all day today and probably this weekend."
Green County Highway Commissioner Dallas Cecil said all county and state roads are open to two-way traffic.
"We're widening them today. The mist this morning made us (use) salt and chip," he said.
One big problem for drivers, and snowplows, is when the snow becomes caked and freezes. With about 5,000 vehicles a day on Wisconsin 69 or Wis. 11, that potential is a constant threat.
"It takes a long time to get that stuff to break up and plowed off," Cecil said. But he said, the roads are "half-way decent."
Another problem for Cecil is the time frame his crews are allowed to work. County snowplows were out at 4 a.m. each morning, and crews worked 12 to 17 hours a day.
"In Wisconsin, our state guidelines restrict us as to what time we can go out. We are not supposed to be on the roads between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., unless there is ice," he said.
Cecil said restricted work hours hinder crews from keeping up with snowfalls like the one seen Tuesday and Wednesday.
Cecil said some drivers will notice a drastic difference between Illinois 26 when it crosses into Wisconsin and becomes Wis. 69.
Kevin Marcheck, operations engineer for the Illinois State Highway Department in Dixon, said Illinois has no such restrictions on their state highway crews. Illinois state highways are maintained by the state highway department; counties and townships maintain their own roads.
"In a storm event like this week, we ran 24 hours a day, two shifts of 12 hours each, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.," Marcheck said. "We do not pull our crews off."
Some counties and townships in Illinois do bring their crews in, "like around 10 p.m.," he said.
Marcheck said Illinois also has no restrictions on the use of salt or chips.
"We can use whatever chemicals we need," he said. He noted salt brine is also used.
Roads are still not in ideal driving condition and removing snow is taking time.
"It's slow going," said Kelly Finkenbinder, Monroe's Director of Public Works, said of efforts to clear snow from city streets.
Visibility at intersections is restricted because of piles of snow on the corners and on terraces. He said drivers need to be cautious when driving and allow extra time.
Street Department trucks and crews are spread out today, trying to pick up snow from the Square as well as trying to get garbage picked up, in addition to their normal road clearing work.
Finkenbinder said the crews will be moving from the Square to parking lots and then sidewalks and alleys. "By then, it'll be time to snow again," he said.
"It's kind of mealy out there," Finkenbinder said of roads. "With the snow getting hard-packed down during the storm, now the salt and warmer weather is working on it.
"We'll get the primary roads done again - try to get those down to bare pavement."
Lafayette County roads were kept open through the snow storm. But Highway Commissioner Tom Jean said they are still snow-covered and slippery.
"This skiff of snow we got last night didn't help us any," he said this morning.
The brief period of sun Thursday morning was a welcome help.
"We'll take anything we can get," Jean said. "If the sun would just stay out, it would break up some of the patches of packed snow on the roads."
But the forecast this weekend is for strong winds on Saturday.
"We're trying to widen the roads out before the winds come up this weekend," Jean said. "We'll be working all day today and probably this weekend."
Green County Highway Commissioner Dallas Cecil said all county and state roads are open to two-way traffic.
"We're widening them today. The mist this morning made us (use) salt and chip," he said.
One big problem for drivers, and snowplows, is when the snow becomes caked and freezes. With about 5,000 vehicles a day on Wisconsin 69 or Wis. 11, that potential is a constant threat.
"It takes a long time to get that stuff to break up and plowed off," Cecil said. But he said, the roads are "half-way decent."
Another problem for Cecil is the time frame his crews are allowed to work. County snowplows were out at 4 a.m. each morning, and crews worked 12 to 17 hours a day.
"In Wisconsin, our state guidelines restrict us as to what time we can go out. We are not supposed to be on the roads between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., unless there is ice," he said.
Cecil said restricted work hours hinder crews from keeping up with snowfalls like the one seen Tuesday and Wednesday.
Cecil said some drivers will notice a drastic difference between Illinois 26 when it crosses into Wisconsin and becomes Wis. 69.
Kevin Marcheck, operations engineer for the Illinois State Highway Department in Dixon, said Illinois has no such restrictions on their state highway crews. Illinois state highways are maintained by the state highway department; counties and townships maintain their own roads.
"In a storm event like this week, we ran 24 hours a day, two shifts of 12 hours each, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.," Marcheck said. "We do not pull our crews off."
Some counties and townships in Illinois do bring their crews in, "like around 10 p.m.," he said.
Marcheck said Illinois also has no restrictions on the use of salt or chips.
"We can use whatever chemicals we need," he said. He noted salt brine is also used.