HOLLAND, Michigan — The Ottawa County Road Commission is fully staffed with plow truck drivers to clear this weekend's snowfall. With a majority of it hitting the lakeshore, crews will be working around the clock to clear the roads.
"This is a typical winter weather event in Michigan," Ken Hildebrand, Operations Supervisor, says.
He says the weather is on their side this weekend.
"Higher temperatures tend to let the salt and liquid work faster. I don't think we'll have any issues working with it, so it should be okay," Hildebrand says.
Per garage, there will be about 12 plow truck drivers during the day and three per garage throughout the night, plowing the streets.
"We're fully staffed and doing the best we can," Hildebrand says. "We have a lot of new drivers so there's a learning curve with that. They've been through a lot of training so we should be fine, but I think Ottawa County is sitting pretty good right now."
There'll be one place in Ottawa County that will stay fairly clear: Downtown Holland with its underground snow melt system.
"It is the largest municipally-owned system in North America," Amy Sasamoto, Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Coordinator says. "It works by using excess heat from our municipally owned power plant that they heat the potable water up to 95 degrees. And then it travels through what we call Pex tubes, little tubes that are put in underneath the sidewalk in the street. And the water just keeps circulating there and it melts about one inch of snow an hour in optimal conditions, which is about 20 degrees and winds at 10 miles an hour."
And with shoppers expected Saturday morning for the final shopping event of the season, it definitely keeps people coming downtown.
"We plan on still having a lot of shoppers downtown and snow melt definitely adds to the experience," Sasamoto says. "It makes us, the city of Holland, a year-round destination."
The Ottawa County Road Commission wants to remind drivers to drive slowly and cautiously this weekend, especially when around their plow trucks.
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