Staunton District Highway Scanner - November 2023

WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD
DOING IT ALL
Operators do anything and everything to keep Virginia’s primary and secondary roads open and safe for travel.
“It could be flagging traffic, driving a dump truck, hauling materials or spreading stone,” Covington AHQ Superintendent
Robey Coffey says. “It could be doing some handwork with shovels and rakes, mowing, snow removal, equipment operations,
picking up dead animals.” Anything that happens on the roads or beside them – operators take care of it.
“Picking up deer is probably the worst – deer and trash bags,” Verona AHQ Supervisor John Selby says.
These are things people see, but there’s plenty they don’t, like making sure pipes are clean so roads don’t flood. “Those types
of things maybe aren’t as appreciated as some of the large things we do like big construction projects,” Hammond says. “But in
reality, the work that these maintenance folks do makes life easier for people every day.”
COMMITTED
It really is every day. “In the middle of the night, when a tree falls down on
the road – who do you think comes and cuts that out?” Hammond asks. “That’s
our operators.”
“They come in and they work on their Saturdays and Sundays, on their nights after
hours,” Harrisonburg Residency Administrator Don Komara says. “When the
weather people tell everyone to stay home, our men and women come to work.”
Operators are always at the mercy of the weather. “When the snow’s flying or it’s
raining, or you get a tree down in the middle of the road… whether it’s pouring
down rain or not,” Selby says. “You just suck it up because it’s part of the job.”
Every job is different with its own scenery and its own challenges – and that’s what
Tim Hall likes about it. Hall is an operator at the Stephens City Area Headquarters
and is happiest in the summer “when it’s just good and hot.” Superintendent
Joey Calhoun of the Harrisonburg Bridge crew believes the hottest days are some
of the hardest days. “We had two or three weeks this summer where it was in
the nineties. We were in the middle of a full bridge replacement, and we were out
there sweating, doing the grunt work.”
“It’s evolving and changing every minute – the weather, the traffic, visibility – all
those things are changing constantly,” says Corey Mace, an operator for 10 years
with Fairfield Area Headquarters.
SAFETY
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and procedures help to keep operators safe, but being an
operator has inherent danger. “I don’t think everyone comprehends the extent that they are in
a risky situation almost all day long,” Hammond says.
“They’re in the road constantly, in the line of traffic,” Selby says. “Unless it’s snow removal,
somebody is outside of a vehicle or a piece of equipment, in harm’s way all the time.”
“You’ve got a 20,000-pound piece of equipment you’re running, and you’ve got people working
around you, and then then you’ve got the traveling public,” Hall adds. “You have to watch out
for yourself as well as your crew members.”
“You might be doing everything right, but sometimes drivers might be distracted,”Coffey
says. “So even if you’re doing the right thing you might end up in a bad situation if you’re
not careful.”
Continued on next page
2
NOVEMBER 2023