Thanks to submissions from Roxanne Gilbert’s 5th Grade students at Fair Plain East Elementary School in Benton Harbor, you and I can now track the movements of MDOT SnowPlow “Tiger” as it works on snow removal along M-63 and other roads across the region.
Gilbert’s class submitted the potential names Tiger, Chill Bill, and Frosty, and their school mascot, the Tiger, is now the name of the one of the plows in the region under a program from the Michigan Department of Transportation.
MDOT says their snowplows will now have a special and personal touch on the department’s interactive Mi Drive map. Inspired in part by TrafficScotland.org, MDOT has started giving snowplows unique and creative names on the Mi Drive map. Current names include Plowasaurus Rex, Sir Salts-A-Lot, and Snowboni. The names have been selected from among hundreds of options submitted by the public, and the department says, “Yes, Plowy McPlowface is on the list.”
Fair Plain East Principal Brian Litten says, “We are excited that these snowplows will reflect our students’ creativity,” and adds, “Going forward, this partnership with MDOT will open the doors for our students to recognize career opportunities.”
Starting with several snowplows here in MDOT’s Southwest Region, MDOT is hopeful to name each of the more than 250 MDOT plows statewide in the near future.
Nick Schirripa, MDOT spokesman, says, “This idea really was driven by people who reached out to us and wanted to know how they could name our plows like those in other places.” He notes, “There was so much positive energy and excitement generated so quickly for this idea, it was contagious. We couldn’t help but give the idea some legs and get some fantastic ideas for names.”
To see each snowplow’s name, you can visit Mi Drive at the link: http://www.Michigan.gov/Drive and activate the MDOT snowplow tracker map layer. By hovering over an icon, the plow name will appear. Clicking on the icon will show the name and a description of what the truck is doing, as well as a driver’s seat view of current road conditions through the snowplow cameras.
MDOT Director Paul C. Ajegba says, “We hoped this could be both fun and instructive and we’re thrilled with the participation from students and others in the community,” adding, “I love many of the suggestions, and I can’t wait to see more.”
School and community groups are encouraged to submit ideas as an organization, in essence adopting a snowplow as their own and creating opportunities to learn more about snowplowing operations, winter driving, and other transportation-related safety topics.
More names are needed, and everyone is welcomed to participate. Go to http://www.Michigan.gov/NameMISnowplow and submit your ideas. There are a few guidelines. To be considered, suggestions must be G-rated and family friendly, and submissions that include famous, character, or brand names cannot be used. Staff from each of MDOT’s seven regions will be able to select their own plow names from the list.
