MUSKEGON, Mich. — As West Michigan is coming off of a few warmer days, it’s soon back to lake effect snow.
“It’s gonna get crummy. It's Michigan. We're getting into it. There's your warning," said Maintenance Superintendent for the Muskegon County Road Commission, Andrew Nichols.
The recipe for recent West Michigan weather is all over the place. “It’s tough in Michigan sometimes, because the lake effect can do things you're not ready for," Nichols said.
So, if the ingredients and conditions are just right, combining salt, snow and wind can create a problem. "The snow will actually gather onto it, create a big slush slurry, and make kind of a mess,” Nichols said.
The Muskegon County Road Commission will be working around the clock, in this winter weather, to make the roads safe for everyone. "During a work week like this, there will be all of our trucks on our roads throughout the storm,” Nichols said.
There is, however, a priority system for plowing the snow. "On our night shift, our primary objective is holding the state trunk line clear until the day shifts can come in,” Nichols said.
Higher traffic roads get cleared first. After the highways, the next priority is primary roads, then local roads.
With 40 trucks plowing snow during the day, and six trucks at night, Muskegon County Road Commission says subdivisions will not be overlooked in stormy weather. “We will have trucks in subdivisions if everyone's called because we have enough employees to operate each truck, each run; everyone has a designated run," Nichols said. "The subdivisions are no different during a work week.”
The Muskegon County Road Commission reminds everyone to drive slow on the roads, and to make sure your headlights are on when you’re driving, even in daylight, so that snow plows know when you're nearby if snow is clouding their vision.
To learn more about the Muskegon County Road Commission, click here.
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