Wing Plow Use in City and Muncipal Snow Removal Operations

To all those "nay-sayers" who question the advantage of wing plow usage in cities, villages, and other urban settings, I have to say you should reconsider.  Pictured is a newly completed single axle plow truck with underbody scraper and mid-mount wing for the city of Kentwood, Michigan.  For those that are unfamilar wih Kentwood, it is suburb of Grand Rapids in west Michigan right on the edge of the lake effect snow belt.  Kentwood is not the only Michigan community to utilize wing plows and realize their effectiveness.  The community of Monroe, Wisconsin (where Monroe Truck is located, primary maufacturer of snow and ice equipment including wing plows) uses wing plows on their city trucks quite effectively.  I observed, first hand, a Monroe City Snow Plow truck clearing a city street with diagonal parking using a plow truck with wing plow and in one pass he cleared most of the lane and the parking area.

He was clearing the streets very early before there was much traffic and I assume there was a winter parking ordinance in effect.  Granted, wing plows won't necessarily work well in every application but they do have their place.  Winter operations folks should rethink their snow removal practices and objectively consider process improvements and improved efficiencies.  When I was in the MDOT fleet arena, I always observed "what the other guy was doing" and what results "he was obtaining".   Don't be an "ostrich".........you know what body part you expose when you bury your head in the sand!