Northern Michigan Reinvented the Snowplow—And It’s Slicing Through Snowbanks

Northern Michigan gets its fair share of snow.

So much so that they have to get inventive when it comes to snow removal. And this invention from one Northern Michigan county is a total game-changer.

👇The Rules of Michigan Snow Removal Etiquette👇

I grew up in this area, and I can tell you that this type of plowing technology would have been a welcome sight when I was still living there. (Especially that time in college when the snow banks were so high that I ended up pulling out of an intersection because I didn't see any on-coming cars and got into a car accident...)

Chippewa County Road Commission Invents Game-Changing Snowplow

Chippewa County in Michigan's Eastern Upper Peninsula has seen a TON of snow so far this winter. Sault Ste. Marie, on the northern end of the county, has already seen more than 14 feet of snow already.

And this isn't the first time so much snow has fallen.

Yoopers are a smart, inventive, bunch - and because of that, the Chippewa County Road Commission has invented a snow plow to make driving safer for folks in the area.

READ MORE: Michigan Has Hilarious Names for Its Snowplows 

When you get that much snow and have to plow it off of the roads, the snowbanks on the sides of the road can grow quickly. Tall snowbanks equal impeded visibility, so occasionally, those banks need to be cut down. That's where this game-changing piece of machinery comes into play.

Drivers go down the roads, cutting down the tops of the banks. They also slope the banks, which helps cut down on drifting and widen the roads.

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Of course, inevitably, some of that snow ends up back on the road, but the Chippewa County Road Commission is prepared for that, too. They come through after the inverted plow cuts down the banks and use what I can only describe as a giant snow blower to blow the snow off of the road and far off the roadway.

Chippewa County likes to have fun with snow removal (since they do it a LOT), so in recent years, they've allowed local schoolchildren to design their plows.

If you have to deal with it, you may as well have fun, right?