No Repeat Of Lake Shore Drive Shutdown, City Promises
(WBBM Newsradio) -- Mayor Emanuel says Chicago will get the heaviest snow the city has seen in several years.
"Make no mistake about it, this is a heavy snow. Heavier than we've seen in a number of winters," he said at a Thursday news conference.
Streets and Sanitation Commissioner John Tully says the snow will be heaviest from 10 p.m. Thursday to 10 a.m. Friday.
"By 10 o'clock things should taper off a little bit, but we're still going to get snow throughout the day (Friday) - one to three inches," he said.
The total with this latest snowfall is expected to be up to 10 inches during that window.
Tully says the city has taken steps to avoid what happened seven years ago: the rush-hour snowstorm that shut down Lake Shore Drive. Cars, city buses -- even snowplows -- became mired in fast-falling snow on the drive.
Not gonna happen this time, Tully promises.
"I don't want to jinx myself, but no. We're well prepared for that."
Tully, who was with the city in 2011, faults a lack of communication between the CTA and the city and a lack of alternative routes for public transit vehicles.
He notes there are now "Jersey walls" that can be removed so that traffic can be turned around on the drive -- if it comes to that.
Twenty inches of snow fell on Feb. 2, 2011.