KENT COUNTY — Crews from the Kent County Road Commission worked through Monday night to prep the roads to keep them as clear as possible as snow, rain and chilly temperatures continued to batter the area Tuesday.
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“It’s a good day to— if you don’t have good tires— really slow down,” says Jerry Byrne with the Kent County Road Commission. “If you do have good tires, still slow down.”
Wintry conditions continued Tuesday, and so did crews as they spread salt or sand on highways and side roads. Highways will need more frequent applications because of the high volume of traffic, speeds, and the sloppy mess driving tends to make out of fresh snow.
Newaygo, like Kent County, called their crews in the overnight hours Tuesday, asking drivers for patience.
"Our plows do travel at a slower speed down the highway, so if they could just kinda back off the plow a little bit— give them some space, take some time to get to where they're going, leave a little bit early, that'd be great," asks Mike Brege, Superintendent of Operations for the Newaygo County Road Commission.
If you haven’t had a chance to check your tire tread or get new ones altogether, you’re going to want to take it extra slow today.
“It’s that heavy wet snow that’s gonna slush and pull you around,” Byrne advises, adding driving near the plows will call for special attention as they scrape snow and ice from the pavement. “Stay back—give them room. Don’t pass them—that snow’s going to be coming off that blade very heavy and wet and can throw you out of control very quickly if you try to pass that truck”.
Byrne says if you’re typically driving 50mph in an area, expect to drop down to 30 or even 25mph to arrive safely.
Better to arrive late than not at all.
As slide-offs and minor crashes are inevitable during weather like this, it's a good time to remind everyone to slow down and move over for rescue crews, tow trucks, police, and fire crews as they do their part to keep roads and people safe.
