Winter Biking: Chicago vs. Evanston

As I biked away from home in Chicago this morning, all of the streets were perfectly dry and clear. And then I got to Evanston. It was still dry and clear--as long as I biked down the middle of Chicago Avenue. It was the same thing in reverse Wednesday evening--the roads in Evanston (even Chicago Avenue) were covered in thin sheet of ice and snow, and people were sliding everywhere. As soon as I hit Chicago, the roads were simply wet. What's up Evanston?? Have you ever heard of salt?? And you can completely forget about Evanston's bike lanes. A couple of years ago, Evanston painted some white lanes on the pavement and called them bike lanes. They stop and start without warning or reason. And as if it isn't bad enough biking on them when the weather is good--when they are full of potholes as well as a catchall for broken tree branches and an assortment of other detritus--just imagine what it's like on a cold winter morning. Apparently the snow plows believe that the bike lanes are meant only as a place to park the dirty snow, ice, etc.