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GODFREY - Jim Lewis, the Village of Godfrey’s Director of Maintenance, has a few tips on how to navigate snow plows and salt trucks during this weekend’s winter storm.
As a cold snap approaches, Lewis and the rest of the department will be out on Friday afternoon, Jan. 12, 2024, to put down salt to prevent freezing on the roads. He doesn’t anticipate a lot of snow, but he warns that cars should be aware of ice as the temperature drops. He asks drivers to give the trucks plenty of room on the roadways.
“What we do is we try to be preemptive as far as getting salt down on the roads in front of it,” Lewis explained. “Example, today, this rain is supposed to pretty well cut off by noon and right after that we’ll start putting salt down on the whole town because we’re worried about a flash freeze later, and hopefully that will combat it. When you get down to zero, that salt’s not going to do any good for you. But right now, it’s going to do a good job.”
Lewis encourages people to stay out of the way of the trucks and let them do their job. He said the department often works at night when there’s less traffic out, but on days like Friday, it’s inevitable that there will be trucks on the roads during heavy traffic hours. He asks drivers not to cut off the plows or trucks and to keep a reasonable distance.
“Stay back far enough that you’re not going to have the salt bounce off your car,” he said. “I wouldn’t pass one. I’d stay back from the plow and the truck at least a couple of car lengths all the time.”
Lewis commended his staff for their work to keep the roads safe. If you encounter a problem area, he encourages you to contact the Village of Godfrey Streets/Public Works Department at 618-466-3133.
“I have excellent guys who work for me and they do a super job,” Lewis added. “They take pride in their work. They want it to be an accident-free town. They want everybody to be as safe as possible. I can’t say enough good things about what these guys do, and they put in long hours and hard hours. It’s hard, what they do. And we’ve got some excellent equipment too, thanks to the mayor and the Board of Trustees…If you see the street department out working, just give them plenty of room and they’ll take care of things.”
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