Road crews race against plunging temperatures
UPDATE 7:00 p.m.: Columbia Public Works will be on standby overnight Thursday and morning staff will be available to arrive to work early Friday if needed. Columbia Public Works spokesperson Barry Dalton said drivers should stay cautious out on the roads.
“Take care when you’re out there moving around,” Dalton said. “This kind of weather is unpredictable and it has been changing quite a bit.”
Dalton said Thursday’s operations went smoothly.
Boone County Road and Bridge spokesperson Greg Edington said night crews will begin working at 7 p.m. Thursday and will focus on gravel roads. He said crews treated the roads Thursday before ice could cause any major issues.
ORIGINAL: Road crews were working late Thursday morning to treat roads before temperatures dropped too far below freezing.
Dalton said the agency will have a better idea of road conditions early Thursday afternoon as it continues to treat priority routes. Rain through the morning meant treatments intended to melt ice washed off roads or could not be applied. Dalton said roads were slick in some places in Columbia.
Boone County Road and Bridge director Greg Edington said crews were working in a tight window to get roads treated before temperatures fell too low for melting agents to be affected.
Cooper County Road & Bridge said gravel roads are covered in ice and becoming slick. Drivers are advised to use caution.
The Moberly Police Department said in a Facebook post that a tractor-trailer was blocking northbound lanes and part of the southbound lanes of Route DD just north of the city limits. Clearing the crash will take more than an hour because towing companies are busy responding to numerous crashes and slideoffs, the post said.
The Cooper County Emergency Management Agency on Twitter said gravel roads were “very slick,” and urged caution when driving.
A crash closed both lanes of Route B north of Mt. Zion Church Road on Thursday morning, causing major back ups on Route B. It wasn’t immediately clear if the crash was weather related.
A tractor trailer was blocking the road, said Boone County Fire bureau director Gale Blomenkamp.
The road reopened just after 11 a.m. Thursday, according to ABC 17 News crews on scene. There were no injuries in the crash, according to BCFD officials.
BOONE COUNTY ALERT: Route B is closed north of Mount Zion Church Road (between Columbia and Hallsville), due to a traffic crash. pic.twitter.com/4qIfg9KIda
— MoDOT Central Dist (@MoDOT_Central) February 7, 2019
The Missouri Department of Transportation traveler information map showed state highways in Columbia and north and west of the city were either covered or partially covered in ice.
