GRANDVILLE, Mich. — With Christmas shoppers out in force, plow and salt truck drivers and mall employees are working long hours to make sure roads and walkways near shopping areas are safe for holiday customers.
“It seems to be everyday lately that it’s been a winter weather advisory. There’s been very little sleep around here,” said Jesse Boogaard, the Foreman for the City of Grandville.
In the Grandville City garages, salt and plow crews have been working non-stop to clear the streets near the Rivertown Mall after each snow event.
To handle a snow event like Tuesday’s, Boogaard said they typically run a lead truck which spreads salt in the center of the road and also scrapes the road.
A second plow truck then runs behind the lead truck and clears the remaining slush to the curb.
“If it’s coming down continuous like this, we back off on the amount of salt we use and we just run all day long,” said Boogaard. “We have one truck that handles Wilson through town. Then they spend the rest of the time on Rivertown Parkway.”
They also have new increased traffic around the new Cabela’s which can increase the workload.
“It’s kind of hard to keep up. We’re a small garage of 15 people. We utilized some people we normally use in the summer,” said Boogaard.
As for the mall parking lot area, mall staffers are in charge of clearing that.
We were told they were not able to go on camera before our news deadline Tuesday because they were so busy.
Shoppers shared their thoughts on the roads and parking areas following Tuesday’s snowfall.
“Oh their pretty nasty,” said Matt Smith of Walker.
Alicia Enos of Grandville said, “Parking lots are snowy.”
Rene Stenmik, Grandville said, “I think they’re doing a decent job.”
“Im sure it’s best as you can do. I’m sure the guys are getting pretty wiped from the continuous downpour of snow,” said Smith.
Although snow fatigue may be hitting crews already in December, they say if it’s snowing, they’ll be out clearing the streets.
“We’ll keep up with it and catch up on our sleep when we get a chance,” said Boogaard.
Those plow crews will typically stay out until at least 10:00 pm each evening during a snow event.
Boogaard said they are often back at work at around 3:00 am if the snow continues to fall.
