The unsung heroes of the snow

As long as the snow is amassing on the streets, the City’s plowing equipment is concentrating on keeping all major streets as safe as possible. Snowplowers are critically important to make sure emergency vehicles can get where they need to go. We caught up with one plow-driver who is going to be up day and night to make sure the streets are clean.

“So we are always ready and have been since October, we were just waiting for the snow to catch up to us. So we are locked and loaded and anticipate with the weather being warmer during this storm, that we will be using a lot more liquid. So that’s actually what I’m doing today, is getting liquid filled and ready,” says Heather Davis, a TH/Plow truck driver for MnDOT.

According to Davis most of the storm her and her crew will be plowing and patrolling is going to be a heavy and fast. And in trouble spots they plan to use a little sand, but if needed they will be using a lot more liquid instead of salt. The job is a long one, full of long hours and erroneous driving conditions.

“So our routes are fine and we here in the state have 24 hour coverage. So there’s two 12 hour shifts. And then we’re divided into routes. So we stay on our route and we do circles all night long. We attentively watch that route that we’re assigned around the clock, whether it’s me or my partner on their 12 hour shift,” continues Davis.

Now of course, avoiding the roads if you can is ideal, but what about those who must be on the road for the duration of the storm, what is a tip to stay safe?

“When you encounter plows never crowd, give us the space and we’ll get you there safely. It might be a little slow, but it’s always safer to not crowd the plow. Stay behind the plow… after all we’re clearing away what’s in front of us so you can just stay with us and stay out of our way and slow down,” finishes Davis.