Cold overnight might make for slick road repeat
Frigid temperatures are expected overnight after a snowy morning, bringing with them worries that wet mid-Missouri roads might freeze over before the Wednesday commute.
Snow blanketed Interstate 70 and other roads Tuesday morning, leaving several drivers in ditches or stranded roadside.
Crews were working Tuesday to help head off the refreeze. Columbia Public Works drivers were applying brine and beet juice to the city’s 470 miles of priority routes throughout the day in the hopes that it will prevent slick roads Wednesday morning. The Missouri Department of Transportation said it had treated state highways but was continuing to concentrate on bridges Tuesday afternoon.
The Jefferson City Police Department worked 10 crashes Tuesday morning and Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Troop B said it worked 20 crashes.
A few injury crashes were reported in Troop F, which covers much of central Missouri. A teenager suffered minor injuries at Ponderosa Street and Gans Road when her vehicle lost control on a slick bridge, left the road, hit a ditch and overturned.
ART Towing manager Tyler Doyle said it was a busy morning.
“Around 6:30, 7 o’clock, the calls really started coming in,” Doyle said.
Doyle said he expects conditions to get worse as the colder temperatures move in overnight.
Doyle suggested drivers “slow down around your curbs, make sure you have good tires in the snow.”
Water tends to collect on bridges, where it freezes before water on surface roads, making the spans dangerous for drivers who are not paying attention. Doyle said the Missouri River bridge near Rocheport is a hotspot for crashes in cold weather.
Doyle recommends to stay to stay home with weather like this.
“It’s not worth risking your life just for a paycheck,” Doyle said.
Slide-offs and crashes can be costly, Doyle said it can cost anywhere between $50 and $75 dollars and maybe even more to tow a stuck vehicle.
Sunny skies and highs in the 40s should take care of any lingering ice on the roads by Wednesday afternoon. However, more snow is possible Thursday and again over the weekend.
