Round Lake to Pilot a Solution for Streets and Snow!

The Village has been selected by the US Department of Transportation to act as a pilot program for a new "warm" road technology that will install wire threads that will heat our streets and keep them clear during snow falls and freezing rains. The system will prevent snow from sticking on the street and will eliminate the need for salting and plowing.

The process has been tried with excellent success in Norway (Trondheim), where over a short 4 month spring and summer they installed 63 miles of superconductor wire in streets. 4 strands of this wire need to be laid on a street with a separation of about 24-30 inches. The wire is inserted in a narrow 1 and1/4 inch sawcut trench that will be cut in the street and then sealed with asphalt. The wires keep the street at a constant 53 degrees throughout the winter, or during any snow event.

Funding for this $17 million dollar project is from the Feds and only requires a 20% local match ($3.4 million) from the village. The potential saving are huge! We spend quite a bit on salt and plowing manpower and none of this will be needed anymore.

The downside of course is this summer and fall we will be cutting grooves in all village streets and of course installing the wires will be messy and take time. In addtion the village's electrical bill will go up. We are going to explore building a wind farm behind the Police and Public Works facility to generate the needed electricity as well.