Yorkville plowing city streets at faster rates after staff increases

This winter, with some extra hands on board and a new truck fleet, city workers are plowing and salting Yorkville roads at their fastest ever rate.

The greater efficiency is a product of the public works hiring four additional employees and the parks department hiring an additional two employees that are helping out with the snow plowing routes.

The Yorkville’s City Council also previously authorized many new truck and equipment purchases to update and expand the snow fleet.

According to city documents, the extra workers have helped expand the city’s services from nine plowing routes to 12, increasing the speed of keeping the streets safe for the public.

To help with the operation, the city is receiving one new truck the week of Jan. 27, with another three soon to be delivered.

“When we receive all our new trucks and when the staff is fully trained and with some experience, we estimate that we could completely plow and salt the town in four hours,” state city documents. “Currently, we are between 5-6 hours to perform the same work.”

During the Jan. 21 public works committee meeting, city officials said the addition of a trackless utility tractor has already made a huge improvement in the city’s sidewalk clearing capabilities.

Each winter season, the city tends to average about 1,400-1,500 tons of salt use on the town’s roads and sidewalks.

Because the city only has 600 tons of salt left over from last year, they placed an order of 1,600 tons with the State of Illinis CMS program.

The city also has access to an extra 1,000 tons of salt storage at the Kendall County Highway Dept. facility.