CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) -Any time it snows, crews are out and about well before and after the event to make sure you can get to your destination as safely as possible.
We rode along in a Town of Christiansburg snow plow and they showed us how they tackle keeping the roads clean.
Drivers arrived at 4 a.m. to get things ready then hit the road as early as 5 a.m. They station their trucks along set routes to monitor the roads as things change throughout the day.
We caught up with crews at the first shift change where they hand off the keys to the next driver and review a safety checklist.
“They’ll do a walk around inspection, check all of the fluids, check the equipment and once it’s good they’ll turn them sheets in and they’ll head out to their assigned routes,” said Director of Public Works Jim Lancianese.
We got to ride along with Travis Lester who’s been driving plows for the town for 15 years.
“We’re basically looking for any spots that’s accumulating snow to clear those and spread chemicals on them so they can keep from sticking,” Lester said. “Just checking to make sure there’s no accumulation stuck to the road.”
His focus was the Roanoke Street corridor Friday.
Most of the time releasing salt from the back of the truck. Any snow that needed to be cleared Friday was minimal and along the side of the road.
He says a common mistake driver makes is they don’t leave enough distance from a plow putting themselves and the snow plow driver in harm’s way.
“Typically when we’re doing a snow operation we have trucks stacked together to clear a double lane road and they’ll come between us and block our operation of what we need to do,” Lester said.
“A lot of times there’s some blind spots in the trucks especially sometimes it’s hard to see them so make sure you have enough time to make that pass safely,” Lancianese said.
But no matter what, officials want your commute to be as safe as possible.
“As long as [snow’s] falling or there’s a chance of it refreezing, you will see our trucks on the station, monitoring the roads doing what we need to just to make sure everyone can travel through Christiansburg safely and efficiently,” Lancianese said.
If you are out and about in the snow you’re asked to stay back at least 100 feet from snow plows to keep both you and the snow plow driver safe.
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Ride along in a Christiansburg snow plow during Friday's weather event - WDBJ
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