The SIU campus has experienced severe winter weather lately, causing a hassle for students and grounds crews alike.

Several inches of ice and snow blanketed the area Feb. 4. Despite this, the university remained open, and grounds crews worked diligently to alleviate the issue.

Casey Kidd, a laborer foreman, said his crew of about 20 worked overtime in the past week, coming in early and staying late to clear the snow and ice. This included a 14-hour day for the entire grounds crew Feb. 4.

Workers came in at 7 a.m. and stayed until 9 p.m., and were back on campus at 4 a.m. to recommence the battle.

“We had some events later in the week with basketball games coming up and the All- Century Team and the scholar students coming in,” Kidd said. “We ended up staying late a couple of nights.”

Assistant Director of Facilities Brad Dillard has worked on campus for 26 years. He oversees the grounds department, power plant, maintenance and key control division. He said the storm on Feb. 2 was one of the worst he has ever seen.

“In my 26 years, I’d put this overall easily within the top five,” Dillard said. “Mainly because of how cold it’s been. We’ve had much snowier ones and we’ve had a couple that we’ve had more ice storms, but the combination of snow and ice, and mainly the cold weather, puts it easily in the top five.”

Kidd said SIU would have been more than enough to cover, but his crews cover more than just the main campus.

“We have some new sources that we have to cover,” he said. “The airport, we have the (vocational technical institute) and coal research in Carterville that we do and Headstart on 51 North. So we do have some other sources that we need to attend to.”

The weather and thinly stretched grounds crew caused problems for some students, especially those unable to avoid the icy areas.

Paige Preston, a junior studying animal science, said the weather made it difficult for her to leave her house, as she is in a wheelchair.

“There were actually a few days where I had to miss classes, just because, even coming out of my home, my ramp was frozen,” she said.

“Towards the end of the week, it was much better. I didn’t have a problem rolling around, getting to classes at all. “

Preston must use the university handicap service to get back and forth from campus. However even this was impeded by the weather, she said.

“With the weather and everything, there’s been a bit of delay,” she said. “I’ve chosen to have friends pick me up and bring me to campus to make sure I get places on time.”

Dillard said the best advice he can give students is to wear appropriate footwear, allow extra time to reach destinations and check the priority sidewalk map.

“We have over 28 miles of sidewalk on campus,” he said. “During winter weather, we prioritize which sidewalks we can hit, because we only have so much man power and equipment, so it’s important we hit our main arteries.”

The priority sidewalk map can be found online by accessing www.pso.edu and clicking on the “snow map” link in the right-hand corner. Dillard said he encourages everyone to use this map to help navigate campus when winter strikes.

Zach McGinnis can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @zaqmac87 or at 536-3311 ext. 268.