WALKER, Mich. — We’ve been spoiled with mild weather this fall, but that’s about to change. The first snowfall is forecast to begin Wednesday night. Road commissions are making sure their equipment is ready for the morning commute.
Kent County Road Commission Managing Director Jerry Byrne is making sure his trucks are ready.
“This truck is completely ready to go. Dump in a load of salt, and be on the road in 15 minutes,” said Byrne.
For the last few days, they have been transitioning to winter mode.
Most trucks can be switched over in 45 minutes, but some take close to 12 hours to get ready for winter.
Byrne said, “Right now, there are about 60 trucks ready for winter; there are about 40 that still need to be switched over, but again we are still patching potholes and doing things we need a dump truck for.”
That includes projects like finishing up this road construction project on Walker Avenue:
“We still have active projects going on because, you know, a week ago was really warm weather. We're paving. They're paving yet today. So, we're not completely done with summer-season construction,” said Byrne.
Byrne says the salt barn is full, but crews will have to wait to use it Thursday morning.
“It's going to rain first, so we can't put it down ahead of time, or it's just going to get washed away. And that's a waste of the dollars and a waste of the environment. So, it's really just having people on the road continually monitoring what's going on, talking to law enforcement, what are they seeing, and respond to what's out there,” said Byrne.
With the rain switching over to our first measurable snow of the season, Byrne says it’s time for drivers to be back in winter-driving mode.
“No matter if it's slushy snow or it's really blowing colds and... or if it's just rain, if the pavement's other than dry, you need to drive accordingly,” said Byrne.
As a reminder, a new law was passed that says you must remain at least 200 feet behind active plow trucks. Failure to do so is a civil infraction, meaning you could face a $100 fine.
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