WYOMING, Mich. — Winter weather has been particularly harsh this year across West Michigan. In my Wyoming neighborhood, its leaving some neighbors frustrated with snow removal on their neighborhood streets.
While city crews work to keep major roads clear, neighbors say some local streets and cul-de-sacs have gone days without plowing, creating hazardous driving conditions.
"It's been really cold. Yeah. I don't even like going outside. I have to pick my granddaughter from school every day," said Barbara Gillespie, a neighbor who lives on Whiting Street.
The accumulated snow and slush have created dangerous driving conditions on her street.
"It's been really bad. Some days you go down the street and there's like, so much snow and slush together, and you're sliding your back end," Gillespie said.
Her neighbor Miguel Ayala has also experienced problems, noting that several people have gotten stuck on their street in recent days.
"It's been trouble for cars, I know that the workers working on that house, they got stuck. And then, like, I think my niece came by Saturday, they got stuck in the middle. A couple of other neighbors got stuck as they were trying to move their cars out and clear them," Ayala said.
Jay VanDyke, assistant director for Wyoming's Department of Public Works, explained the city's snow removal priorities during a ride-along Monday. Crews focus on major roads first before moving to secondary streets.
"It almost seems like daily, every day we're out. We're plowing and taking care of our majors first, and then we make it into our second priorities, which we call our collectors," VanDyke said.
This winter has presented more challenges than usual for snow removal crews.
"We've definitely seen a lot more snow and a lot more cold this winter. You know, they don't really come in large events. We see one, two inches, three inches, here and there," VanDyke said.
The frequent, smaller snowfalls create packed snow conditions that make it difficult for plows to effectively clear local roads and cul-de-sacs.
VanDyke said neighbors can help by following the city's odd-even parking rules during snow events.
Here's how it works: On odd dates, park on the side of the street with odd addresses – those that end with 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9. On even dates, park on the side of the street with even addresses – those that end with 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8.
"We'd be able to run the center and one side of the road, and then we could come back, like we often do the next day or the day after, and plow the other side of the street and get those taken care of," VanDyke said.
While Gillespie acknowledges that some neighbors don't follow the parking rules, she remains frustrated with her street's condition.
Wyoming Public Works shared on Facebook that crews were out Tuesday plowing local roads and culdesacs.
Gillespie said she hopes neighbors will do their part and follow the odd-even parking rules so their roads can be properly cleared.
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