February 2020 | Vol. 17 Iss. 02
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SNOW REMOVERS KEEP HOLLADAY STREETS MOVING IN THE WINTER, REPAIRED DURING THE SUMMER By Sona Schmidt-Harris | s.schmidtharris@mycityjournals.com
Y
ou have seen them in seemingly armored trucks plowing snow off Holladay streets. They appear to be faceless, powerful and nameless. However, very real people help keep Holladay safe and moving in the winter. Meet snow removers Sharon Casias and Troy Oveson. Both Casias and Oveson work for Salt Lake County. As snow removal partners, Oveson is the lead truck and Casias the “chase truck” on the main roads like Wasatch Boulevard, Murray-Holladay Road and Highland Drive. “I love my job. I like being out at night when there’s no traffic. I just love doing it. I like seeing the results after it’s done,” Casias said. While Oveson also likes his job, the middle of the night proves more difficult for him. “Getting up at 3 or 2 o’clock in the morning is the worst challenge,” he said. Both Casias and Oveson enjoy the people they work with. “I like to be outside. I like to drive. I like doing different things every day. I like the people I work with. I like my bosses,” Casias said. Casias has been with the county for 16 years and Oveson for five years. Previously, he worked for UDOT for about three years and Saratoga for another year. While often rewarding, snow removal has its challenges. Something that would help Holladay snow removers is residents not attempting to pass the trucks while they are working to clear the streets. Other challenges for snow removers include “not letting us out or not slowing down. We need to do what we have to
Snow Removers Sharon Casias and Troy Oveson plow through Holladay. (Photo courtesy of Sharon Casias/Holladay)
do, and sometimes they just won’t let us out on the street,” Casias said. The biggest challenge for Oveson in the subdivisions is vehicles parked on the street. Additionally, Oveson finds it difficult when people are “yelling things at us,” he said. “We covered their driveway after they have already shoveled it.” “A piece of advice would be when you do shovel your
driveways, if you put it to the right side of your driveway, and we come by and push it, we’ll push away from your driveway, so we won’t bury your driveway as bad,” he said. Despite loving her job, Casias expressed some frustration. “The only thing that really bugs me is every time something comes on TV, it’s all about UDOT. There’s never anything said about Salt Lake Continued page 11
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