Michelle James
Though overworked and perhaps a little weary, area road crews remain ready to roll at the first sign of winter weather.
Fortunately, despite the seemingly never-ending supply of snow this winter, road supervisors say equipment, as well as salt supplies, are holding up well.
“Our trucks have held up good and we still have plenty of salt and can get more whenever we need it,” said Bill Frey, acting daytime supervisor for the Beckley Board of Public Works. “We’ve been handling the winter pretty good this year.”
Mark Carver, director of public works for Lewisburg, said his supplies and equipment are holding up despite a winter he says “has proven to be one of the granddaddies that we’ll talk about to our grandkids someday.”
Carver said the main problem in Lewisburg is finding a place to put snow once it is removed from the downtown area.
“We’re starting to get to the point of running out of room to put the snow,” he said. “We’ve taken about 400 truckloads and a normal winter might be 50.”
Hinton is experiencing the same problem. City manager Chris Meadows said crews have been placing snow on a couple of pieces of city-owned property.
“But they can only push (snow) up so high,” he said, adding that, like in Lewisburg, a new location for the snow must be found.
Although crew members are working overtime, Frey and Carver said they, too, are “holding their own.”
“The men are getting tired, but they know how to handle it and how to handle their trucks,” Frey said, adding anywhere from eight to 10 men at one time work 12-hour shifts to maintain the nearly 600 streets in Beckley.
“They’re doing great considering all the time they’re putting in.”
Extra equipment as well as overtime hours, however, are blowing budgets in Lewisburg and Hinton.
“In a normal year, our budget is about $45,000,” Carver said. “This year, we’re (already) over $50,000 and I’m sure we’ll exceed $100,000.”
Meadows said one of his men just turned in 57 hours of overtime after working “pretty much the entire weekend.”
“It’s very costly for us,” he said. “(But) we’ve got to have them out there to make the streets safe for everybody.”
Gus Rader, superintendent of Summersville’s street department, says Nicholas County has not had it as difficult as other parts of the area. Like much of southern West Virginia, however, Summersville is predicted to receive between 7 and 14 inches by Thursday.
“We’re holding up well,” he said, adding crews are ready. “We’ve got plenty of salt and cinders, so we should be OK.”
Regardless of how much snow the area receives this week, the men ask that residents be patient and exercise caution.
“When the roads are slick, people need to slow down and give us a chance to work,” Frey said. “I know people think we’re not out there, but we are.
“It just takes time and people need to be patient with us.”
