Whenever the North Island gets a dump of snow, spare a thought for your local snowplow driver whoB次元官网网址檚 out working in crappy conditions while you are, or at least, should be, back home warm and dry.

ThatB次元官网网址檚 the message in not-so-many-words from the man managing the team keeping North Island highways clear of snow and safe to travel on.

B次元官网网址淲hat our crews do is, itB次元官网网址檚 a pretty serious job,B次元官网网址� Chris Cowley, general manager of Mainroad North Island Contracting, said in a YouTube video released on the first day of winter 2022. B次元官网网址淲e ask our operators to head out in the worst of conditions. When people are asked to stay home and not drive, thatB次元官网网址檚 when we go to work.B次元官网网址�

When the snowplows are working, Cowley suggests drivers give them as much B次元官网网址渇reedom to work in and room as possible.B次元官网网址� Stay well back of the plow B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭he roads are always better behind it than in front of itB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� and give yourself more time than you normally would to reach your destination. Snowplow drivers will pull over if they think that people are being held up and let everyone pass.

Also, when encountering a snowplow, never pass on the right.

Cowley said that highway crews are looking at a similar situation to what was experienced last year, as far as precipitation is the current forecast. We do get a lot of precipitation, he said, but whether it is in the form of snow or rain is usually matter of degrees as we tend to hover between plus two and minus two.

Last year was a particularly severe winter for Service Area 3 between Christmas and New YearB次元官网网址檚. We had high volumes of snow and repeat events back-to-back.

READ MORE: Campbell River gets more snow in December than traditionally snowy eastern cities

What that creates for highway crews is a situation where they donB次元官网网址檛 have a full opportunity to clean up before the next event comes. Crews will clean up the A Class roads, then the B Class roads and school bus routes but then it will start snowing again and so they have to return to the A Class roads. So, it can be a while before they can get to the side roads.

One thing Mainroad has started doing is pulling crews from areas not so hard hit to help crews on hard hit areas.

Mainroad crews are diligent about monitoring weather forecasts, too. They have contracted a meteorology company that analyzes the weather more than than what you get from the regular Environment Canada forecast.

B次元官网网址淥ur crews look at those on an hourly basis so that we can adjust what weB次元官网网址檙e doing and what weB次元官网网址檙e prepared for before it comes,B次元官网网址� Cowley said.

Cowley said Mainroad crews are ready to do what it takes whenever a snow event occurs.

B次元官网网址淥ne things for sure, if its snowing, weB次元官网网址檙e out there. ItB次元官网网址檚 the job we have and we take it very seriously. Just because you donB次元官网网址檛 see a truck doesnB次元官网网址檛 mean theyB次元官网网址檙e not out there. They could have gone to a different area or youB次元官网网址檇 just be ahead of you or behind you.B次元官网网址�

READ MORE: Campbell River snow clearing operations challenged by recent extreme snowfall events