Tow trucks may be as commonplace as snowplows this winter as Kankakee plans to remove not only snow, but also vehicles parking on designated snow routes.

At Monday’s Kankakee City Council meeting, Kankakee Mayor Chris Curtis posed a couple of questions to the nine council members in attendance.

The pair of questions was simple and to the point: Should the city enforce its designated snow route? If not, then the proper step to remove the ordinance from the city’s books should be taken.

Curtis noted he was on board one of the city’s Department of Public Works trucks during the recent 4- to 5-inch snowfall. What struck him during his ride-along was the number of vehicles parked along the city streets within its designated snow route.

The snow route designation applies to streets or portions of streets deemed critical. These streets are of the highest priority to be maintained by city crews during a snowstorm.

These streets are the most highly traveled and are needed to gain access to hospitals and other critical services.

However, what the mayor found is that while the snow route is clearly posted with signage, it seems to be ignored.

Cars are parked on the snow route. Plow drivers simply pass around the vehicle, meaning the route does not get properly pushed to the curb.

“We enforce the ordinance or we get rid of it,” Curtis said.

When posed with these questions, the council members largely agreed that the snow route is important and needed to stay in place. If necessary, the council said, vehicles must be towed.

Some members said that perhaps police could put warning notices on the vehicles stating they must be moved. Curtis said during storms, police do not have time to do such things.

He suggested, and the council approved as well, a door-hanger campaign within the snow route. The door hangers would state that these residences are within the snow route, and vehicles cannot be parked within it when snowfalls reach a minimum of 2 inches.

Cars must be relocated to non-snow route areas.

Reggie Jones, a 7th Ward alderman, asked what would be done to the city’s secondary streets in terms of plowing if all these extra vehicles are parked there?

Curtis said that was a question for another day. He said the main focus is getting the snow route cleared.

Door hangers could be posted on homes by mid to late December.

The snow route is made up of 27 designated areas:

1. Chestnut St. from Fifth Ave. to Greenwood Ave.
2. Chicago Ave. from River St. to Emory St.
3. Chicago Ave. from Birch St. to Sycamore St.
4. Cobb Blvd. from Emory St. to Chatham Circle
5. Court St. from Kennedy Drive to Interstate 57
6. Duane Blvd. from Greenwood Ave. to Nelson Ave.
7. Entrance Ave. from Court St. to Brookmont Blvd.
8. Evergreen Ave. from Court St. to Cobb Blvd.
9. Fairmont St. from Court St. to Kennedy Drive
10. Fifth Ave. from Court St. to Kennedy Drive
11. Greenwood Ave. from Court St. to Fair St.
12. Harrison Ave. from River St. to Fair St.
13. Hawkins St. from Washington Ave. to Eighth Ave.
14. Indiana Ave. from Fair St. to the Kankakee River
15. Justice Way entire street
16. Nelson Ave. from Maple St. to Eagle St.
17. Osborn Ave. from Court St. to Cobb Blvd.
18. River St. from Fifth Ave. to Pearson Parkway
19. River Road from U.S. 45-52 to I-57
20. RiverStone Parkway from Schuyler Ave. to Marcotte Road
21. Rosewood Ave. from Birch St. to Sycamore St.
22. Schuyler Ave. from River St. to Seneca St.
23. Sixth Ave. from Bridge St. to Seneca St.
24. Sixth Ave. from Water St. to Sterling St.
25. Station St. from Evergreen Ave. to Wall St.
26. Washington Ave. from Jeffrey to Cypress St.
27. Union Ave. from Locust St. to the Conrail railroad.