KENT COUNTY, Mich. — More snow is on its way, this time widespread across West Michigan. The roads are slick now and likely will remain so in the morning.
"A lot of times that's 300 miles that I'll run out a 12-hour shift," Kent County Road Commission snowplow driver Brent Houtman said.
Houtman has been plowing roads for more than a decade.
"The Christmas blizzard, I think, snowed about 10 or 12 inches, and then it froze, extremely cold. So the ice just packed on," Houtman added.
This storm stretching across the whole state is still shaping up.
"This kind of weather, when it just starts coming down, you kind of concentrate on just clearing what you can on snow, and give [drivers] friction on stops," Houtman said.
Many drivers at the Kent County Road Commission are gearing up for a long shift.
"We've got 90 during that day shift when most of the people can see outside when the sun lights up. And then at night, we kind of shrink that down to 40," Kent County Road Commission Road Construction Director Steve Roon said.
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These 100-plus snowplow drivers have around 5,400 miles to cover.
"If you stay back, you can see us; we can see you. And when we're plowing snow, and it's some light dusty snow like we've got right now, we create quite a snow, whiteout condition around our truck," Roon said.
Houtman adds there are a lot of blind spots on these trucks.
"If you pull up behind us tight, we cannot see you. Another thing is to give us room to work. We're trying to do a service for you guys, so you guys can get to places back and forth safely," Houtman said.
Especially with weather like this, remember that many cities have odd- and even-day parking. So, be sure to park your car on the right side of the road.
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