DeKalb County road update: Winter weather leads to slippery, treacherous conditions as police respond to crashes

DeKALB – Icy winter weather brought with it treacherous road conditions across DeKalb County, as law enforcement responded to traffic crashes throughout the day.

As of 3 p.m. Thursday, deputies with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office responded to four separate car crashes and cars in ditches, authorities said. DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan said officials didn’t report any serious injuries as a result of the accidents.

Sullivan said while Thursday’s weather didn’t create sheets of black ice, accumulations of ice – visible or not – require motorists to change their driving habits.

“People need to be mindful of their speeds,” Sullivan said. “The snowplows, and the townships and county highway folks are out there salting the roadways as best they can throughout the day, but it does have a significant impact on the travel. So we just ask that people allow for more time for their travels and drive at a slower speed.”

DeKalb County remained under a winter weather advisory along with much of northern Illinois through 9 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasts showed between one and four inches of snow was expected across DeKalb, Kane, Kendall and La Salle counties, more further north.

A wintry wet precipitation mix fell across the county, with temperatures expecting to remain in the low-20s Friday though no additional snow accumulation is expected Friday.

A collision around 1 p.m. on Perry Road near Howison Road in rural Afton Township left one vehicle overturned, though no injuries were reported.

According to the sheriff’s office, a GMC Envoy driven by an 18-year-old from Peru was headed eastbound on Perry Road when the car struck a Cortland tow truck which had been loading another vehicle from a separate crash on Perry Road.

The Envoy rolled over into a nearby field to the north and flipped, deputies said.

Ice accumulation tends to weigh more than fresh snow, meaning Thursday’s weather was more likely to damage infrastructure such as power lines and utility poles. Sullivan hadn’t been informed of any downed power lines as of 3 p.m. Thursday but he said it’s important for citizens to report downed power lines and utility poles – and not to touch or drive over them – so that his office can alert ComEd to the situation.

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Workers from Tri-State Towing hook up a vehicle that slid off of the roadway and rolled over Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, as a DeKalb County Sheriff's Deputy closes off Perry Road near Howison Road just south of DeKalb. Winter weather resulted in several accidents in DeKalb County Thursday. (Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com)

DeKalb County Engineer Nathan Schwartz said road crews reported county roads were in largely in good shape as of 3 p.m. Thursday.

“While we are plowing mother nature continues behind the plows, and by the time we come back again they’re covered in snow, but they’re not terribly icy because we spread solid salt on all the roads first off,” Schwartz said. “And as we continue to plow them, if we do experience some bad locations or at stop locations or curves, we’ll spread some additional salt until this event ends.”

DeKalb County Highway Department’s road crews were ready to go as of 3 a.m. Thursday, Schwartz said, but did not head out until mid-Thursday morning as the storm arrived.

He said the Highway Department doesn’t use anything other than salt to treat the roads.

Long stretches of straight highways are less likely to get salt treatment, but intersections are often doused with a heavier amount of salt to account for heavier road traffic, Schwartz said.

Drifting snow from windy conditions make it difficult to salt roads liberally, Schwartz said. Drifting snow can collect around salt, form a pool of water and then refreeze, he said.

Thursday’s temperates helped a little, Schwartz said.

“We do have some good strong winds but between the little bit warmer temperatures the salt’s been doing a pretty good job for us,” Schwartz said.