The nearly 1,000 motorists forced to abandon their cars on Lake Shore Drive woke up to a bit of much-needed good news Wednesday when they learned their cars had likely been towed somewhere close to where they left them, and that they wouldn’t have to pay to get them back.
Vehicles were towed to lots off of Lake Shore Drive near Chicago, Belmont and Wilson avenues on the North Side and a lot near 47th Street and Cornell Avenue on the South Side. Other cars were taken to lots near North Avenue and Wells Street, Foster Avenue and Soldier Field.
City officials urged drivers to call 311 first to find out where their cars were stored.
For the many who survived a harrowing night on the Drive, the reunion with their cars was sweet, even if there was wear-and-tear evidence of their ordeal.
War wounds, thought Allison Krecik and Tim Pigott, who picked up their 1995 Honda Civic Hybrid, with its front bumper unhinged and wires dangling underneath the car, from the lot on Wilson.
“It’s very good we found it,” said Pigott, 36.
“Thank you, bright side,” said Krecik, 37, giving her husband a squeeze.
Drivers who deserted their cars in the collar counties and on rural highways will likely have to pay to retrieve their vehicles from private tow lots, authorities said. Tow truck operators hustled to remove the automobiles, semis and even squad cars that were blocking roadways and complicating cleanup and rescue efforts, county police said.
Depending on where they left their cars, motorists were asked to call their county dispatchers or municipal officials to find out where they were towed.
In Chicago, drivers scrambled over heaps of snow and through dozens of abandoned vehicles with upturned windshield wipers — a sign that it was checked by emergency responders — in search of their cars. While most were relieved when they finally spotted them, others were still bitter about the experience.
“I really didn’t want to leave it behind,” said Cara Zaleski, 26, who had to abandon her BMW 325 on Lake Shore Drive. “I stayed with it as long as I could.”
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