GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — This weekend's snow is keeping plow drivers busy. Grand Rapids city crews are still trucking along.
The main roads are always a main focus for road crews.
"Our first goal after we get the first attention to be in good shape, we go through and we do the local streets," Grand Rapids Public Works Supervisor Jason Carter told FOX 17.
Carter adds that side roads, which are the ones where many live, come second.
"So generally we will fill your driveways again with snow; that's not purposeful, it's not vengeful, that's just ... we have to get the snow off the roads," Carter said.
The Grand Rapids DPW supervisor says his plow drivers are working 12-hour shifts to clear the snow off the streets. He says right now, his plow drivers are going to be hitting the side streets where a lot of people live here in Grand Rapids. He says he's thankful that there's not much snow coming down because if it was more snow, his plow drivers would have to refocus on those main roads.
"The little bit of snowpack on the road is keeping the traction on the main roads. We're planning on opening up the travel lanes with heavy salt probably starting Wednesday, at the latest," Carter said.
The plows have a green light, which acts like a laser for the plow. When drivers don't follow the rules of the odd and even date, a plow driver can't get down the road to work.
"If people follow odd-even parking, it makes our job a lot easier," Carter added.
The Public Works Department has many miles to get to because, just like the area code, the city has 616 miles to plow.
The city has a massive fleet under its one garage on Market Street. Carter says they have 37 big plows and 16 pickup trucks to clean up the snow but 24 people per shift to drive them.
"On the weekends when a snowstorm hits, we're actually thankful because we can utilize other departments to come and help our staff out for any extra trucks we have. We do fill them with other drivers with the refuse drivers that are normally picking refuse and recycling up. We can utilize them and bring them to fill our trucks up," Carter says.
He says they haven't put salt down on the roads because of the cold temperatures. Carter says if the snow were to melt, it would refreeze and cause more road issues.
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