Columbia holds annual snow plow dry run, says staffing is better than last year

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia Public Works crews held its annual dry snow run on Thursday, and staffing appears to be better than last year.

"Right now, our staffing, we currently have four vacancies in the street in the street division. So, that's pretty good going into winter,” Columbia Public Works Engineering and Operations Manager Richard Stone said. “It's about 10%, which we'd like to be less than that, obviously. And we are pursuing, trying to fill those, but at least we're a lot better than we were last year.”

Staffing was an issue for the city last year as the area entered inclement winter weather.

Crews went over safety procedures and became familiar with snow routes on Thursday.

“All of our folks to get out there, take a look at their routes, make sure that they're familiar with them, look for any changes or any construction that's going to be happening over the winter,” Stone said. “(It) gets everybody familiar with the process and make sure that we're ready for winter weather response."

When accumulations are fewer than 4 inches, crews focus on priority routes during normal business hours but will go into other areas if time and conditions on priority routes allow, according to a previous press release from the city.

The city is responsible for maintain more than 1,400 lane miles of streets and 1,100 cul-de-sacs.