Blizzard? What blizzard?
Chicago is nearly back to normal almost a week after the city's third largest blizzard unleashed enough snow and ice to shut down Lake Shore Drive and trap hundreds of cars in alleys and side streets.
That means Chicago Public Schools kids are back in class with bus transport, CTA buses are back on schedule and, perhaps the most sobering, downtown parking meters are once again being enforced.
Meters in the business district, between Oak and Roosevelt and Halsted and Lake Shore Drive, will be monitored starting at 9 a.m. today. Neighborhood meters will resume 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Hopefully you can free your car to move it. After 100-plus plows took to clearing more side streets Sunday morning, city officials said that all roads should at least be "passable."
Depsite ongoing complaints about snow-blocked alleys, garbage pickup also will resume. Last Monday and Tuesday, Streets and San workers picked up extra trash to compensate for the pending snowfall. As of Friday, trucks couldn't get through some alleys to access garbage cans.
If your street or alley is still blocked, call 311. City officials report that the number of 311 calls has dipped down to 600 on Sunday from 16,000 on Wednesday.
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Other parts of the city are returning to normal too. Residents should get their mail on time today, and early voting locations are open once again. Libraries also are open, and O'Hare and Midway airports are running on normal schedules.
The 2 inches of snow Chicago saw Sunday should be the last of it for a while. After this week's deep freeze, temps of 40 degrees and higher should actually melt a bit of snow.
