Streets Section

The City’s Public Works Department is responsible for the roadway maintenance and approximately 3,500 curb miles including the street sweeping program. The street sweeping activities typically take place from late March through November, depending upon weather conditions. The street sweeping program comprises of three levels of service, (a) curbed roadways – once a month; (b) non-curbed roadways and City owned parking lots- 2 cycles per year; and (c) the Central and Ravinia Business Districts roadways – once a week. Additional street sweeping services are performed as needed, either contractually or by City staff.

Please remember the street drains are meant to collect only rainwater and it is illegal to dump leaves, grass clippings and other debris onto City streets, inlets, storm drainage system, ravines or bluffs. Individuals are also reminded to clear leaves from gutters and to dispose of all collected leaves in disposable bags. Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS) provides composting service and landscape waste program that runs from April 1 to December 15 each year. Service is provided on the same day as refuse and recycling collection. For additional information, please contact LRS at 844.633.3577 (844.NEED.LRS) or info@LRSrecycles.com.

If you need additional information on the street sweeping program or need to report a street that needs to be swept, please call the Street Foreman, Randy Abbott, at 847.926.1147.

Potholes occur with the onset of warmer weather and freeze-thaw cycles. With this, City streets are bound to have pockets of distressed areas commonly known as potholes. These potholes are created in several ways including pavement trench failures, unraveling of pavement surface, poor pavement drainage especially on non-curbed streets, expansion joints deterioration on concrete streets, and instability of sub-pavement materials. 

A typical pothole is created when precipitation seeps through the surface pavement into the sub-pavement (3”-4” below), creating an expansion of the area.  With warming temperatures, the pavement begins to thaw thereby expanding the area and with increased road traffic the area enlarges creating a pothole.  Please note pothole repairs completed in the winter are done using cold patch asphalt, and are considered temporary repairs. Upon opening of the asphalt plants in early spring, permanent pavement patching repairs are performed to improve roadway conditions.

To help the Public Works Department maintain City streets in a safe drivable condition, please report pothole locations via City Pothole Hotline at 847.926.1178.  This 24-hour hotline allows residents to report a pothole location by leaving their name, address, phone number and specific location of the pothole.

Pothole repairs may also be reported online on the City’s website at www.cityhpil.com using Request Tracker by clicking on “Customer Service Request” on the main page.  Pothole repairs are typically addressed within 24-48 working day hours upon notification.

For more information or to report a pothole during normal business hours, please contact the Streets Foreman, Randy Abbott, at 847.926.1147 and during off hours including weekends and holidays please call Police non-emergency dispatch number at 847.432.7730.

Most streetlights in the City are owned and maintained by Commonwealth Edison. The City does own some streetlights which are located mainly in the Central and Ravinia Business Districts. Additionally, private individuals also own some streetlights, especially those of a more decorative nature found in some subdivisions. Streetlight problems can be reported to the Public Works Department and if the light is not City-maintained, the City will forward the service request to the proper owner. 

OUTAGES

If you notice a streetlight outage, dim or blinking, please report it to the Public Works Department at 847.432.0807. It able to maintain the following information is useful to help identify a specific light:

• Approximate address and location of light.
• Which side of street the light is located.
• Occasionally, a pole number can be seen at eye level and contain a combination of letters and numbers.
• Please leave your contact information (name and daytime phone number) so we may call with additional questions if needed.

Once a report has been made the City will determine ownership of the light(s) and efforts will be made to repair within 48 hours. If it is a ComEd streetlight the City will notify ComEd and they are responsible for getting the light repaired. If you are aware that a streetlight is owned by ComEd you may wish to report the outage directly to ComEd on their website or by calling 877.426.6331.

For more information please contact the street foreman, Randy Abbott, at 847.926.1147.

The Public Works Department provides the following information in preparation for the winter season. Timely response and effective execution in anticipation of variable weather conditions are essential for an efficient snow removal plan. Online weather data and Lake County Passage CCTV information are constantly being monitored to determine the impact of storms. This allows the City to schedule personnel and get equipment ready and available for any upcoming snow event. The information provided in advance assists the Public Works Department to prepare an effective plan for snow removal while working closely with the Public Safety personnel to identify specific salting or plowing needs.

The City of Highland Park reminds residents that it is a violation to remove snow from one parcel of property and deposit onto another, including the adjacent public parkway, without consent of the property owner. Some snow removal companies push snow from one property, across public streets, and onto the parkway on the opposite side of the street. Depositing snow in this manner can damage property, create a nuisance, and hamper sight lines from adjacent properties. The City code does provide an exemption to allow plow operators to deposit snow on the City parkway located immediately adjacent to and on the same side of the street as the property from which the snow is being removed.

Property owners should inform their snow removal companies of the Snow Removal Ordinance provisions. Snow plow operations observed improperly depositing snow in violation of the ordinance will be cited; however, residents are ultimately responsible for compliance and may also be cited. Please see the graphic below as a guide to properly remove snow from your driveway, or contact the Street Foreman, Randy Abbott, at 847.926.1147 with any questions or concerns.

For additional information and FAQ's regarding snow and ice removal click here.

Streets Rehabilitation Program Presentation-June 2021 

During the Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, June 14, Director of Public Works Ramesh Kanapareddy and City Engineer Emmanuel Gomez reported on the City's street rehabilitation capital program, discussing how roadway improvements and maintenance are assessed, prioritized, and executed. The City's FY 2021 budget details $13M in capital improvements, with nearly $10M dedicated to infrastructure improvements. Over the last five years, the City has invested $9M on streets rehabilitation alone by improving the quality and riding surface of the streets. City Council supported adding $2.3M to the City's budget over the next two years for a new surface pavement maintenance program called S.M.A.R.T, Surface Maintenance At The Right Time. This approach would address the worst surface condition streets that have a good sub-base (foundation) to provide a good riding surface for a number of years until they are addressed as part of the ongoing, annual pavement rehabilitation program. The annual pavement rehabilitation program addresses both surface and sub-base conditions of a street to extend the pavement life of a street and prevent future costly reconstruction of streets.

Click here to view the slides. View the meeting recording.

The driveway approach or apron is the area within the public right-of-way which is the area typically between public sidewalk and street curb or edge. For driveways with no public sidewalk, the public right-of-way is approximately 60’-66’ or 30’-33’ measured from center line of the roadway towards a home. The “infrastructure” within a public right-of-way includes public sidewalk along the driveway, the driveway approach or apron (asphalt or concrete or pavers), and the curb over driveway (depressed or mountable).

City Code Section 93.255 requires property owners to maintain all three items of the “infrastructure”, as noted above. The Code requires the infrastructure to be in good repair, free from obstructions and openings, clear of snow and ice, and in a safe condition for pedestrian and vehicular travel. Please see photo, bottom right, for a finished newly constructed driveway approach performed by the property owner.



For more information on driveway approach maintenance, please contact the Streets Foreman, Randy Abbott, at 847.926.1147 during normal business hours.

Residents may park on streets except between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., from December 1 through March 31. However, to permit City plows to most effectively clear City streets, it is recommended that residents avoid parking on the street during any significant snowfall until after the department has completed its snow removal operations.

The City maintains contact with both a local weather forecasting service and a modem-accessed weather radar system. This combination forewarns the department of storms so employees can be on-site and prepared to respond before the storm arrives. Public safety personnel work closely with the Public Works Department to identify specific plowing and salting needs.

While the response is weather-influenced, under normal conditions all streets are plowed at least once within the first six hours of a three-inch snowfall. It is important to note that initial operations are staged simultaneously throughout the City, and that plows may need to make multiple passes along streets to move snow to the curb. Depending on a storm’s magnitude, response time will vary. Regardless, snow removal will continue until all streets are passable and all parking areas have been cleared.

For any questions or concerns regarding the plowing efforts, please contact the Street Foreman, Randy Abbott, at 847.926.1147 for additional information.