City of Columbia plow crews move into neighborhoods, priority roads to near-normal conditions
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A City of Columbia snow plow crew of 16 members clocked in at 7 p.m. Monday to continue working to plow neighborhood roads during the overnight hours, the city said in a release.
Plows moved into the neighborhoods during the day on Monday after getting priority roads to near-normal conditions, according to city officials. Boone County Joint Communications sent a notification at 4:07 p.m. that gave the OK to park again on priority routes.
Meanwhile, another group of workers will focus on hauling snow from the Downtown area. The release says that Downtown Columbia lacks sufficient space for snow storage so, snow must be loaded onto dump trucks and transported to designated removal sites, according to a city news release.
One Columbia resident thinks crews have done "as well as can be expected."
"It was kind of hard because we started with rain and sleet, which kind of laid a base layer of ice on the roads with the temperatures we've had," Columbia resident Kyle Watkinson said. "Even salt, um, I think kind of struggles to break that up and then we had snow laying on top of it so."
The sunlight Monday helped break up the snowpack, causing the snow and ice to slush in some spots and show bare pavement in many areas. However, with low temperatures projected overnight, the city says a refreeze poses a significant risk and could create slippery conditions for Tuesday.
The ABC 17 News Stormtrack Weather Team declared a Weather Alert Day for Monday night through Thursday morning because of the dangerous, cold temperatures coming into the area. A number of area schools have called off classes.
Drivers are urged to exercise caution by reducing speeds, avoiding sudden braking and maintaining safe following distances between them and the car in front.
First priority routes include “Major residential and arterial streets for public safety needs,” and includes roads like Broadway, Green Meadows Road and Vandiver Drive, according to the city’s website.
Second priority routes include “heavily traveled collector and residential streets for Public Safety and City/school bus routes as well as streets connecting to schools, hospitals and other critical areas,” the city’s website says. Some roads in this tier include Fairview Road, Derby Ridge Drive and Parkade, the website says.
A full list of first and second priority routes can be found on the city’s website. Third priority routes can be found there, as well. Priority areas include Downtown and other neighborhoods.
A number of major roads in Columbia – including Stadium Boulevard, Highway 63, Interstate 70 and others -- are maintained by the Missouri Department of Transportation.
