My car, the morning of

Now that it’s been about two and a half weeks since the storm on 12/1, I think I have gathered enough information to accurately and correctly say that the City of Peoria FUCKED UP. On Thursday, when East Peoria, Pekin, Morton, and various other locales were out pre-salting the roads in preparation for a hellacious snowstorm, Van Winkle and his cronies were sitting on their collective asses, waiting for the city of Peoria to turn into a Bavarian rally course. And turn into a rally course it did. While I live in Morton, I had some business to attend to in Peoria on Saturday afternoon. The instant I came across the Murray Baker Bridge, I was shocked to find several inches of ice and snow still covering I-74, which was 100% clear on the Tazewell side. While I was rather disappointed, my feelings came nowhere near the anger and frustration I felt when I got off the interstate on Knoxville. Mind you, Knoxville is STATE ROUTE 40, which means that after the interstates, it should have been the first thing cleared. Between 74 and the Parkway, I nearly got stuck 3 times. 3 FUCKING TIMES. When I did arrive at my destination, the roads were so impassible that I had to park at a nearby shopping center and walk about a mile.

Fast forward to Monday morning, 12/4. I leave my house for my job north of Pioneer Parkway about 20 minutes early, which I feel should more than account for any residual snow or ice on roads that have surely been cleared. I-474 is fine. Route 6 is fine until I arrive at the Allen Road exit, which is backed up about 1/2 mile down Route 6. No big deal, I have plenty of time to go to the next exit, Route 40, and come back south. No. From the time I got on the Route 40 ramp, it took me AN HOUR to get to University and Detweiller, a drive that normally takes oh, about 5 minutes. The roads were in no better condition than when I had been in Peoria two days before. Absolutely and completely inexcusable.

Peoria, based on the propaganda and soundbites it pumps into the local media, is trying to change the people’s perception. The CoC, the PPD, the visitors’ bureau, the City Council, the Mayor, etc., are calling for taxpayers’ money to be spent on public works programs, new schools, parks, and extravagant museums. With the City of Peoria obviously unable to prevent a complete shutdown of basic commerce in the event of a significant snowstorm, should the City really be considering stretching itself even thinner? And why wasn’t Caterpillar asking the City if they needed help? According to the PJS, Caterpillar was ready to help if they were asked. If the Yellow God cares as much about Peoria as they say, they should’ve been calling Mr. Van Winkle the instant the forecast for 18 inches of snow hit Local on the 8’s.

And Mr. Van Winkle, know this. Your classless move of blaming the citizens of Peoria for your shortcomings, insisting that it was the fault of the people for attempting to drive on the roads and compacting the snow and ice, will not be forgotten anytime soon. If you had sent your trucks out to salt before the storm like the majority of the towns around you, the people driving would have been a non-issue, because the ice would have been gone.

Oh yeah, and whoever the dickhead was driving through the Ossami Lake neighborhood right after the snow in the excavator, you can kiss my ass. 10 or 15 elderly people outside shoveling their driveways, and you’re driving around pointing and laughing in a piece of equipment that could have cleared a driveway in less than 10 minutes. I’m not sure what it was you were supposed to be doing, but I seriously doubt it was driving back and forth for 3 hours without your shovel touching the snow.