The Campton Township Highway District clears all roads within the Village of Campton Hills, including roads in Plato Township which are in the Village of Campton Hills.

In addition, the Highway District is also responsible for snow plowing on all unincorporated roads (roads not in the Village) within Campton Township.

There are however, a number of roads in Campton Township that are the responsibility of other governmental agencies. State roads such as Route 64, Route 38 and Route 47 are the responsibility of the Illinois Department of Transportation. Kane County crews plow county roads, such as Corron Road, La Fox Road, Burlington Road, Silver Glen Road, Empire Road and Dittman Road.

In Plato Township, there are 3 governmental agencies responsible for McDonald Road: Campton Township Highway District, Plato Township Highway District and the City of Elgin.

The Village of Lily Lake has its own independent snow removal agency.

The Campton Township Highway District crews begin an all-out plowing effort whenever 1-2 inches of snow have accumulated and snow is still falling. The District’s goal is to clear all roads within 10 hours after the snow stops falling, but heavier snows often take longer to clear.

The Highway District has established a priority plowing system for our 137-plus miles of roadways, so that main traffic routes, such as arterial and collectors are plowed first. Crews always attempt to clear these routes before rush hour. Occasionally, snow storms will hit our area just as rush hour is beginning which causes delays for both plowing crews and traffic.

Roads are divided into 3 priority levels based on traffic volume and potential safety concerns. Arterial are always plowed first, such as Campton Hills Road, Anderson Road, Bolcum Road, Old Burlington Road, Beith Road, Harley Road, Old La Fox Road, and Pouley Road, Fox Mill Blvd. along with McDonald Road in Plato Township.

Crews then begin working on Priority Two (collector) roads, which include main roads through subdivisions, roads that link arterial and roads with schools located on them.

While working on main subdivision roads, they move onto Priority Three roads, such as minor residential roads, side roads and cul-de-sacs and dead end roads.

Cul-de-sacs are not last. They are just the most time consuming roads to plow, and on average, it takes a minimum of 20 minutes to clear a cul-de-sac of snow. That is 6 times longer than it takes to plow a through street of the same size.

Cul-de-sacs are also more difficult to clear because of the limited space in the parkway to dump snow without burying driveways and mailboxes.

The District’s plow drivers first plow an outer ring around the cul-de-sac to open up the roadway for vehicles to exit or enter the area. Then, when plow crews are plowing on their second round, and cleaning up roads, the middle of the cul-de-sac is plowed to open up the roadway completely.

There are over 130 cul-de-sacs that the Highway District is responsible for, which makes for a very time consuming effort to clear them of snow.

All roads within the Campton Highway District’s jurisdiction are salted in response to snow or ice; it takes about 4 hours for each plow driver to completely salt and plow his individual route.

The Highway District will make an initial pass through subdivision roads to ‘open them up’ for traffic to enter and exit. On the second or third pass by the plow driver, depending on how much snow has fallen, the plows will widen the roads by plowing the snow further back towards the ditch line, as close as possible to the edge of the roadway without hitting mailboxes.

First, the Highway District uses an anti-icing agent in the form of salt/water and a product called Geo-Melt. This mixture is sprayed onto Township roadways in advance of a predicted snow or ice storm.
Geo-Melt is a non-corrosive environmentally safe agent consisting of sugar cane, beet juice and molasses. This mixture when combined with salt, melts ice and snow at a quicker rate and at a lower temperature than calcium chloride which is used by some agencies.

This mixture when applied before a storm, will remain on the roadway for 2-3 days, depending on conditions.

Geo-Melt does not corrode or cause rust on vehicle and is safe for animals when they walk on Township roads, nor does it damage grass or vegetation.

The amount of salt and Geo-Melt used is based on total accumulation, temperature and traffic conditions.
Rock salt used during snow storms is pre-wetted with either a rock salt brine solution or Geo-Melt to accelerate melting.

In addition, vehicle traffic aids the melting actions and help minimize the amounts of salt used. Under certain conditions, including a heavy ice covering of roadways, the Highway District may use sand to improve traction on icy hills and curves.

The heavier the vehicle traffic on a roadway, the quicker the salt will be distributed and the quicker the snow will melt. This is why arterial roadways melt quicker than a subdivision road.

Technically, there is no state statute requiring a governmental agency which plow snow on roadways to be responsible for the repair of mailboxes that are damaged during snow plowing.

So it is a decision left up to each governmental agency as to whether they will repair mailboxes or not. Only 3 of Kane County’s 16 Township Highway Districts have elected to repair damaged mailboxes.

The Campton Township Highway District has elected to repair damaged mailboxes during snow plowing as long as District guidelines are met.

These guidelines require the bottom of the box to be 40 inches above the ground and the front of the box to be 8-10 inches in from the edge of the road. Mailboxes should be placed on standard 4 inch by 4 inch wood or 2 inch thin wall metal-type posts because they need to ‘break away’ when struck by a vehicle. Please contact your US post office for additional requirements that they might have.

The Highway District will dispatch a mailbox work crew to repair mailboxes which have been determined to have been damaged by a Highway District plow truck. Normally the mailbox is repaired or replaced within 48 hours of a snowfall, but during heavier snow events, that time may be extended. Mailboxes are repaired in the order they are reported.

Please be aware that it is not always a Highway District’s plow truck that has damaged your mailbox, as private landscapers with pick-up trucks plowing private driveways, have been observed and apprehended striking mailboxes on Township roads and not reporting them to the Highway District. If the District’s repair crew determines that it was a Township plow truck responsible for the mailbox damage, they will repair or replace the mailbox and/or post as needed.

To report mailbox damage, call the Highway District’s office at (630) 365-9300.

Both are the responsibility of residents, property owners and in some cases, homeowners associations.
Residents should shovel snow into the yard, not onto the road. Putting snow onto a plowed road causes dangerously slippery conditions for both motorists and pedestrians. Once a plow truck has plowed and salted a roadway, any additional snow from a residents driveway, will first melt from the salted conditions, and then refreeze, causing an icy area on the road.

District plow drivers try to avoid putting large piles of snow in front of driveways, however this is not always possible. To avoid having to double shovel, wait until after your plow truck has been plowed to clear your driveway entrance. Snow on the plow will ‘dump’ into an open area when the plow truck is clearing a roadway, and if the open area is the end of your driveway, that’s exactly where the snow will fall from the plow.

Where applicable, residents are also asked to clear snow around fire hydrants to aid firefighters.

The Village of Campton Hills’ ordinance on all Village roads, prohibits vehicles parked on all Village roads after 2” of snow has fallen.

On unincorporated roadways within Campton Township, parked vehicles during a snowfall of 2” or more is governed by a Kane County Ordinance prohibiting those parked vehicle.

In both cases, if a Campton Township Highway District plow cannot remove snow from a roadway due to an illegally parked vehicle, that vehicle will be towed by either the Village of Campton Hills Police Department or the Kane County Sheriff’s Department.

All towing expenses will be paid by the vehicle’s owner.