Snowplows work to clear roadways

Posted: Jan 29, 2023 / 08:10 AM EST

Updated: Jan 29, 2023 / 08:11 AM EST

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — West Michigan saw a significant amount of snow Saturday night into Sunday morning. The heaviest snowfall has wrapped up leaving the roads covered with snow and ice.

Jerry Byrne, deputy managing director of operations at Kent County Road Commission, told News 8 that his overnight crew clocked into work two hours early on Saturday evening to begin clearing as much snow from the roadways as possible.

As of 6 a.m. Sunday, about 100 drivers are treating the roads. According to Byrne, his crews put down a salt and sand mixture Saturday night across the county and will treat the state highways with just salt on Sunday. Crews will not use any chemicals for the county’s primary and secondary roads.

“On the county system, we have a lot of snow removed. We are going to concentrate on scraping and removing as much snow as possible with a minimal amount of material. If we are hauling material, we can’t scrape a lot,” he said.

Byrne added his crews will do his best to tackle all neighborhood streets but says don’t expect a clear path as you commute throughout the day.

“Based on the forecast, the goal is to get to the neighborhood streets in the next 12-14 hours. One path. So, they’re not going to be cleaned up. We are going to have to come back tomorrow and get things cleaned up one path to get through everything is our goal,” he said.

Byrne advised that drivers give country trucks as much room as possible to work. He also asks drivers to put on their headlights.

“You need to make your car visible. You may not need the headlights for yourself but you need your headlights on for others to see you,” he said.

Grand Rapids is already experiencing an above-normal winter with 50 days of the season to go. As of midnight Sunday, Grand Rapids has seen 78.5″ of snow this winter. On average, we see 77.6″ of snow.

Here are snow reports of areas across our viewing area: