Beckley, WV (WOAY) – We’ve been slammed with snowstorms the past few days, so Beckley Public Works has crews working around the clock on two 12-hour (13 men on night/20 on day) shifts to get the sidewalks and streets clear.
“When the temperatures dropped so low it was really difficult to try to remove the snow –where everything had frozen so hard,” said Beckley Board of Public Works director Pamela Frey. “We’re trying to remove snow uptown right now since we’ve got the roads pretty passable. We’re gonna continue having two shifts through the week since we’re expecting more snow.”
There is a silver lining in all of this.
“We do have some people that call and really appreciate the job we’re doing,” Frey said. “They’re happy that they can get out and get to work or to the doctor’s appointments, get their groceries. So we like those thank you’s; they’re few and far between.”
After getting through the first round of storms and then expecting to get hit with round two, the Beckley Public Works director says it’s just business as usual.
“Make sure we have enough salt on hand, make sure we have all the crews in place,” she said. “If people get sick that we have alternates that’ll step in and cover that area. It’s just… what we do.”
According to Pam, they have 10 plows out working, plus loaders to go uptown to clean the large mounds of snow. Also, two mechanics on duty in case something breaks down so they can keep those trucks in rotation on the streets. You too can help the crews.
“Try to get your car off the street if possible. Please be patient; we will get to your street,” said Frey. “When it’s a large amount of snow like we had the last couple of nights it does take us a while but we will get there.”
* In addition, Pam wants to let everyone know they had to cancel the recycling run this week. With the big storms, Beckley Public Works was focused on snow removal. But Jan. 29 they are back on schedule with the next recycling week.
