While ETHS’ two weather-caused asynchronous e-learning days may give the impression that the city struggles to keep up with the snow, the City of Evanston actually ranks among the elite in snow and ice control. Each year, the American Public Works Association (APWA) awards five cities from across the United States with the Excellence in Snow and Ice Control Award. On Feb. 16, the City of Evanston was designated as a recipient of the award for 2022.

According to the APWA, the award is intended to “promote excellence in the management and administration of public works snow and ice operations…while minimizing environmental impacts.” The City of Evanston Public Works Agency, the department responsible for the maintenance of city streets, prepares year-round to live up to those standards during Illinois’s harsh winters, covering Evanston’s 190 miles of streets, parking lots and walkways.

To accommodate the undertaking of keeping Evanston’s streets clear for cars and pedestrians, the Public Works Agency has a staff of 45 employees operating a fleet of 44 trucks and pieces of machinery around the clock in order to clear streets of snow and ice. Ahead of the winter, the agency pre-treats key roads and school routes with anti-icing agents and stocks up on 3,500 tons of road salt.

Of the four honorees, one other, Schaumburg, was from Illinois. Alongside Evanston and Schaumburg were Dickinson, N.D.; Lawrence, Kan.; and Lincoln, Neb.. The recipients of the 2022 Excellence in Snow and Ice Control Award will be honored at the North American Snow Conference in Pittsburgh on April 11, but not before Evanston’s Public Works Agency gets back to work maintaining its standard of excellence for the remainder of the 2022 winter.