St. Paul snowplow vet shares view of the roads — and drivers

This is Jeremy Bates' 18th winter driving a snowplow on St. Paul's streets and in that time, he's developed some pretty strong opinions — about snow emergency parking and driving.

Given that Twin Cities winters usually include at least a half-dozen snow emergencies that snarl traffic, raise blood pressures and fuel complaints about everything from the quality of plowing to cars not being moved, Bates' take on things seems pretty relevant.

Eye On St. Paul interviewed Bates earlier this month — the same day a snow emergency was called — to ask him about the pleasures and perils of clearing city streets.

This interview was edited for length.

Q: People love to grouse about snow plowing. What makes you happiest about the job and what ticks you off the most about the job?

A: Actually, what makes me the happiest is once I have plowed a street, it looks way better than it did before I got there. It's just the gratification of cleaning that street. It looks good. I get satisfaction out of just doing the job well and making it drivable.

Q: And the negative?

Q: What causes the most stress?

A: The answer is traffic. It absolutely is traffic ... just not giving you enough space to do your job. I'm here to try to make the streets safer for you to drive on and if you're not giving me that opportunity and giving me the space to stay safe and try to clear the street, it's counterproductive. And it's frustrating. We have to turn around a lot. And it's not the easiest thing to do.

Q: What makes it especially challenging?

A: You try to put a 12-foot plow down a [24-foot] residential street with cars parked on both sides. Trying to go around the block isn't the easiest thing to do. You kind of get trapped sometimes. So, we're turning around a lot and, man, traffic just doesn't want to give you a break. And parked cars.

Q: Parked cars?

Q: It seems that problem just gets worse as winter goes on. Why?

A: The first couple snowfalls a year, it's not so bad. People can park. By late February, those streets get real skinny. The snow builds up and people for some reason feel their tires are allergic to snow banks or what, but they park farther and farther out into the street. I have to laugh. If I blinked my eyes and the snow was gone right now, you'd think that guy was drunk when he parked his car. It's literally parked five feet from the curb.

I talk to people on my routes, very nicely, and I'll say "It's one thing if I can't get down your street with my plow. But it's another thing if you have your husband or your wife or your child and there's a medical emergency and you need an ambulance to get down your street. And if a fire truck can't get down your street because there's too many cars parked too far out in the street and they're blocking the street? That's not going to be good.

Q: In a 12-hour shift, how many miles will you plow?

A: It all depends. Today, I did a pre-emergency [plow] and I plowed 31 miles. Today I plowed downtown. I usually do that during the day. During the average snow event, that's what I do. I want downtown to look good for sure.

A: I do. I love to drive. I absolutely love to drive. I would much rather drive than fly.

Q: What else would you like people to know, to think about?

A: I am going to go on another little rant. These days, for whatever reason, everybody's in a hurry. Most people think 2 or 3 feet in front of their vehicle and that's it. They're not aware of their surroundings.

But winter driving is different. When I am working, I have big strobe lights on, spinning 360 degrees. I want the public to understand the reason I have those lights on is I am working.