“Hopefully they can rest tonight before the upcoming snow event, and I don’t know how long we’ll be here, but we’ll be here till its over,” said Street and Sanitation Manager Danny Hilbert, of his crews that plow snow.
On Wednesday, between eight trucks, crews spread 256 tons of salt.
“For us, that’s a lot,” said Hilbert.
Because of the number of men available to work, Hilbert said they all leave at once, rather than going in shifts. Each vehicle has a driver and a rider, he said.
“I don’t like to send them out with one person because if something happens, they might need help,” said Hilbert. “It’s very dangerous work.”
One driver, Jamie Tolley, said he got stuck on a hill, and that another driver got stuck twice. To get out, he said he had to pour salt behind the truck and some in front of the wheels and then keep going.
“My family definitely worries about me driving in the snow,” said Tolley.
Traffic is a major concern, he continued, because while cars moving on the roadway do help spread salt, they also pose a much greater threat of collision.
On top of traffic, steep hills are of concern as well.
After major arterial roads are cleared, Hilbert said drives resume their assigned areas.
“But like yesterday, we’d clear them and then they’d fill in, so we have to go back over them again,” Hilbert explained.
At one point last night, he said they had to quit salting, because the continuous plowing would just plow the salt off the road. Then there came a time when they could salt and plow, and it started clearing up.
The typical procedure is to clear the busiest roads first, and then to maintain specific areas, but if roads are particularly problematic, they have to go to those right away.
“Last night, the Police Department called about accidents on Parkway, Southside, and the Broad Street extension, so if we didn’t have a truck there, then we had to move one,” said Hilbert.
Some people feel that their areas are not cleaned fast enough, said Hilbert, adding, “You can’t please everybody.”
By clearing what he called the “main arteries” first, traffic can continue flowing where it is the heaviest.
The men on these crews work all through the night, Hilbert said. When they get fatigued, they go to the break room until they are ready to go again.
Tolley said that other than a half-hour lunch break and an hour dinner break, they worked from 7 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. from Wednesday into Thursday.
For some of the crew members, it was their first time plowing snow.
“I’m very proud of them. They came through with flying colors,” said Hilbert.
The county roads are cleared by the County Highway Department, and the City staff clears some state routes. Hilbert said the state compensates them for this service.
With the forecasted snow storms, Hilbert expects to have crews out and working till roads are clear, but hopes people understand they work with a limited and dedicated staff that is committed to making the roads safe through these winter storms.