Mid-Missouri counties prepare roads for bitterly cold weather

Public works departments in multiple counties have pre-treated roads this morning ahead of Tuesday night’s bitterly cold weather.

Temperatures are expected to drop below zero with wind chill, which means the roads might become slippery.

Columbia, Boone County and Cole County Public Works Departments have treated roads with salt either this morning or over the weekend. Cole County also used beet juice to treat bridges.

Boone County and Columbia will have crews on standby in case a road is reported as slippery. All three have sand, calcium chloride and beet juice on hand if needed.

While salt is very common for road treatment, it doesn’t completely prevent roads from becoming slippery.

“Salt can have trouble with black ice,” said Barry Dalton, public information officer for Columbia Public Works. “If the temperature of the pavement drops too far, salt is less and less effective.”