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CHICAGO (CBS) ― There is not nearly as much snow falling today as yesterday, but the task of cleaning up and digging out has proven arduous.

A total of 8.8 inches fell at O'Hare International Airport on Tuesday, which set a record for the date of Feb. 13. The 9.7 inches that fell at Midway International Airport was the record for a one-day snowfall there.


Extra City Crews Dig And Plow
The plows and salt spreaders moved to the side streets in Chicago Wednesday after a winter storm and strong winds made a mess of the roads.

As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, the goal is to finish clearing those secondary streets by late Wednesday night.

Even after streets are plowed, motorists will have to put in some work to dig out their cars.

A Phase Three Snow Removal was also in place for the city, bringing 747 workers and 70 pieces of equipment from the city departments of Transportation and Water Management, as well as non-snow related bureaus of Streets and Sanitation.

"I got a call last night at 10:15 to call my guys and have them report to different ward yards," said Bill Pesch of Streets and Sanitation's Bureau of Forestry.

Crews are working not only to clear streets, but also crosswalks and areas near fire hydrants, as well as sidewalks in front of such facilities as police and fire stations, hospitals, social service agencies, schools and places of worship.

One crew seen on the West Side was clearing blizzard-blocked bus stops and crosswalks so people could get around safely.

"It's a good thing that the city is doing this, because people could get in big trouble or they could fall," said Hernan Hernandez.

As CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports, snowed-in residents worked their way out of drift trouble on the city's side streets, which for emergency reasons do not get top priority.

City officials say this was a rare storm that forced their crews to stay on the main streets for 36 hours.

"You get 12 inches but it's blowing at you at a constant rate, keeps covering the routes," said Commissioner Michael Picardi of the Department of Streets and Sanitation.

Plows have moved to the side streets, and in West Town, the wheels spun and cars had to be rocked to get in motion.

One motorist piled a mountain of snow next to her car.

"I wish I woulda gotten out here before the plow. [The snow's] really heavy," said Laura Anderson.

Health officials say if you're not physically fit, don't overdo the shoveling.

"Consider getting help. Don't make this your first effort to get in shape," said Dr. William Paul, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Health.

Picardi said earlier Wednesday morning that extreme caution was still needed on side streets.

"Right now, they're in bad shape. The South Side -- they had 8.8 inches dumped on them, and we really haven't had a chance to knock it down," Picardi said. "So they're dangerous. I'm very concerned as people are leaving for work, they need to be careful on those side streets. They need to be very slow, they need to be careful when they're approaching those intersections and they need to be careful around schools."

That was about 6 a.m. Two and a half hours later, 100 snow fighting trucks were moved from main roads to side streets, where 100 plows attached to garbage trucks and 22 more smaller plows were already working.

"Within four hours, we'll have them knocked down pretty good," Picardi said. "Eventually, I want to get those salt spreaders in there to assist those garbage trucks, to make all those side streets get down to pavement."

Crews will work on 3,300 miles of side streets until they are clear. Officials say they had to do the same 5-mile routes 80 times over the course of 10 hours to keep up with the drifts and lake effect snow.

They anticipate working late Wednesday night and starting again at 4 a.m. Thursday.

Earlier Wednesday morning, it was major roads that were the concern. A stretch of northbound Lake Shore Drive, between 31st and 57th streets, was closed late Tuesday due to blowing snow, and drifts there reached 2 to 5 feet. It reopened sometime after 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, after crews spent hours clearing the snow.

Streets and Sanitation points out that private companies that are hired to clear snow are forbidden by law from pushing snow into the street. The companies will be ticketed and fined by if they are found to be doing so.

On the expressways, as CBS 2's Mai Martinez reports, Illinois Department of Transportation crews are still out Wednesday morning, and the temperatures are not as low as IDOT officials expected they would be.

IDOT snow fighting truck crews worked through the night on 12-hour shifts to salt and plow about 9,000 miles of roadway using 340 plows.

Commuters said Wednesday morning's commute was a breeze compared with Tuesday's.

"Night and day, night and day," said Anthony Beamish. "Yesterday, I did about 30 miles an hour. Today I did 60."

"Not bad at all," added Nicole Bleskin. "The streets were clear; merging onto (Interstate) 55 it was pretty good, just like average traffic today."

"Excellent this morning. The roads were wide open, no problems whatsoever," another man said.

State police have been working under their emergency snow plan, which means drivers who are involved in minor accidents are asked to drive their vehicles off the expressway, exchange information, and contact police about the accident at a later date.

They also ask that drivers who gets stuck on the road stay in their cars and call *999 if they get stuck. Getting out of your vehicle can put you at risk for being struck by passing vehicles.


Public Transportation Sometimes Dicey
For those whose cars might be buried, public transportation is always an option, but even that is not always problem-free.

Train riders had a relatively smooth ride on Tuesday, considering there was a minor derailment on the Pink Line, backing up trains all the way to the Loop.

But bus riders had even more serious problems, since the buses had to share the same snowy roads as the cars.

"It's pretty rough, because buses are taking about an hour, as far as I hear the Pink Line might be down. But I'm going to get there," said Ronica Cauhe.

As for Metra, some frozen rail switches caused scattered delays of up to 15 minutes.

As bad as the situation was in the city, some frozen rail switches caused scattered delays of up to 15 minutes. Residents armed with just snow shovels seemed to be fighting a losing battle, and even snow blowers could barely keep up.

Drivers were spinning their wheels as they tried to get around, and many got stuck.

Metra riders did not fare much better, as conditions delayed some trains for two hours or more. Some Metra stations were locked up tight.

Trying to get out of town was no easy task either, and that is not expected to change on Wednesday.

The Chicago Department of Aviation says to expect hefty delays and plenty of cancellations at both airports on Wednesday.

As of 10:30 a.m., O'Hare reported about 430 flight cancellations, with delays of 30 to 45 minutes for scheduled flights. Midway reported 42 cancellations. The Aviation Department attributed the cancellations to the snowstorm now in the Northeast.

On Tuesday, Midway was completely shut down, while about a third of all flights were cancelled at O'Hare International Airport.


What To Expect For The Rest Of The Day
CBS 2's Ed Curran reports there is still some lake effect snow falling, and the closer to the lake shore you are, the more likely there will be snow.

The winter storm warning was extended through Wednesday afternoon for Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana, where an additional 3 to 6 inches of new snow is expected to fall by Wednesday afternoon.

The lake effect snow showers, which will remain considerably lighter than the snow on Tuesday, will migrate to Northwest Indiana later in the day as the wind turns from the north to the northwest.

Snow totals measured only 3.1 inches in Woodstock, but as high as 8.3 inches at Midway. In Cedar Lake, Ind., 10 inches of snow were measured.

This weekend, the mercury will rise to the 20s, and next week, the 30s are expected.

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