GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Much of West Michigan is dealing with mid-winter conditions Monday while plow trucks are still clearing roads from the first major snow fall of the year.
Monday’s storm advisory had the Kent County Road Commission preparing for the season’s winter weather. Jerry Byrne, Department Managing Director, encourages you to do the same.
“If you put 90 trucks out there in the day and 30 at night, that's a lot of tons of salt going out on the road,” said Byrne.
Byrne says to keep an eye open for which side the salt is coming out of the truck, saying passing a plow truck on the wrong side could cost you your life.
Gary Mobley, a snow plow driver, let FOX 17 ride along Monday afternoon before the storm. We tackled the shoulders and exit ramps in a plow truck that can haul eight tons of salt at a time.
“The snow creeps in from the edges, so if you keep the edges clean it keeps your road clean,” said Mobley.
The road commission is making sure the trucks are ready for any harsh weather and hoping drivers do the same.
“So if they normally go thirty miles to work and it takes them 30 minutes, then they probably need to give themselves an hour tomorrow and double your time,” said Byrne. “They need to help themselves because we can't give them driving conditions like July when it's dry or 40-70 degrees compared to what it's going to be tomorrow.”
With so many plow trucks on the road it’s important to practice defensive driving. Sunday night a car rear ended a plow truck downtown. Byrne believes it could have been a serious accident, but luckily nobody was hurt.
