Crews working to clear snow-covered roads

Columbia Public Works and MoDOT started clearing roads Sunday in Columbia. As of 10 a.m. Monday, Columbia officials had made progress on priority routes.

They were beginning to focus on secondary streets, starting from the city limits and turning toward the center. They will provide another update once they start hitting neighborhoods. Trash was canceled Monday and delayed one day the rest of the week in Jefferson City. It was not affected in Columbia.

Columbia Public Works has 30 trucks treating first and second priority routes. First priority routes make up 190 miles of road in the city. The city is also enforcing the no parking rule on first priority snow routes, once the snow topped 2″ within the city.

If you are parked on a priority route after more than 2″ of snow has fallen, the owner risks a $100 citation and a towed vehicle at the owner’s expense. Signs should be in place marking priority streets.

“Those are your major streets that lead into subdivisions, employment centers, and schools. So for example, on the north side of town, Blue Ridge, Derby Ridge, Garth Avenue. Those are some good examples of the north side. We want our customers to move their cars, because when they do, we get those routes done much faster. If we have four inches or more of snow, we can get into the residential areas much quicker,” said Steve Sapp with Columbia Public Works.

MoDOT also sent 27 trucks throughout Mid-Missouri starting Sunday afternoon.

Supervisor Richard Skeeter said employees from its northern maintenance station are working in Boone County as well. MoDOT takes employees from several other departments for snow plows.

On Monday morning, crews in Jefferson City were trying to focus on secondary routes.

“As cold as these temperatures are, if we put any salt on it it’s going to melt a little bit, then it’s going to freeze back and we’re gonna have a sheet of ice. So, we probably won’t treat until tomorrow morning. We’re confident we can deal with whatever comes, but everybody needs to recognize that when it’s still snowing, there are going to be some hazardous conditions out there. So if you don’t need to go out, just wait and give us a little time,” said Britt Smith with Jefferson City Public Works.

23 crews will be out clearing the roads in Jefferson City. They can typically get everything cleared up in three hours once the snow stops falling.

You can check live road conditions across Mid-Missouri here, and the latest closings here.