Snow continued to fall heavily across the region on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, creating challenging conditions for commuters and prompting local authorities to deploy snow removal trucks throughout the Metro East Illinois area.
As of 7 a.m. Friday, the snowfall had intensified, with officials predicting it would cover pavements and complicate travel.
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Operations Engineer Joe Monroe of IDOT reported that temperatures were in the upper 20s, contributing to the accumulation of snow on roadways. Salt and other de-icing chemicals were initially effective in keeping roads clear, but by 5:30 a.m. Friday, conditions began to deteriorate, particularly south of Godfrey, Monroe said.
"By about 5:30 this morning, enough snow started to overcome the chemicals we had out," Monroe stated.
Monroe said that IDOT started to reapply chemicals to the roadways when the stronger snowfall occurred early Friday morning.
In response to the worsening conditions, snow removal trucks were dispatched at 11 p.m. Thursday in the northern areas of Metro East Illinois and again at 2 a.m. Friday in the southeast.
"We had trucks out for quite some time, and we are managing it relatively well under the circumstances," Monroe added.
As the day progresses, the forecast indicates that conditions may improve after 1 p.m. Friday, allowing for better travel during the evening commute if the predictions hold true.
