Plowers Prepare For Another Round Of Snow
The front end loaders and gravel haulers have created a huge pile of salt at Angelo's Supplies at Eight Mile Road near Middlebelt in Farmington Hills.
Manager Dana Miller says the contractors have already been loading up on road salt and plow parts with the anticipated snow.
"Yesterday they started, we were busy all day long," she said.
"Obviously they all slept last night to get ready for tonight, but they'll start up again around 9, 10 o-clock and keep coming in until it's over," Miller said.
Miller tells WWJ's Ron Dewey they have also been inundated with calls for help from plow contractors along the east coast already doing battle with heavy snow.
"We've got guys working 12-14 hours a day, we've got on-line troubleshooting, on-line ordering to where it is non-stop, we are pulling order continuously," she said.
Terry Pointer of T-Pointer landscaping of Farmington Hills loading a pallet of salt preparing for a long night ahead behind the wheel.
"It all depends on how it snows," he said.
"You want to keep the properties clear, but you can't just keep ... plowing for nothing. It all depends on how it snows, if it's consistent, you go clean them up so people can get in and out -- then you go back."
Pointer says it has been a slower season for plowing given the smaller snowfall thus far.
Unfortunately, because of continuing budget cuts by the state legislators and shrinking county road commission budgets, the ability to respond to winter storms is weak and limited. In 2010, Michigan legislators cut the budget for snow plowing in order to meet federal matching fund requirements for highway construction.
"Blame the problem on a perfect storm of circumstances," said Mike Nystrom, executive vice president of Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, in a release Tuesday.
"The cost of salt, sand, snowplows and blades all continue to skyrocket; county road crews responsible for plowing and salting the roadways continue to dwindle in Michigan, and the state has been forced to cut back on funding for snow removal and other traditional road maintenance responsibilities."
"Our regrettable failure to halt the slide in funding for winter road-clearing efforts means that motorists will have no choice but to slide down slippery roads," he said.
The snow is expected to start falling Tuesday afternoon and last through the night, dropping 2 to 3 inches mainly during the evening rush hour up through 9 p.m. A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Southeast Michigan. (More on this).
