Mid-Missouri road crews fighting another round of snow as winter barrage continues

COLUMBIA Mo. (KMIZ)

Snowfall this week has taken a toll on drivers and road crews.

And more was falling Wednesday afternoon.

Representatives of Jefferson City Public Works and the Missouri Department of Transportation said Wednesday they are looking forward to the warmer temperatures coming toward the end of the week. Forecasts call for the area to climb above freezing Saturday.

A look at what area transportation agencies were doing Wednesday to battle the latest round of wintry precipitation.

Columbia Public Works

A 27-person crew reported at 7 a.m. and were focusing on priority routes. Any vehicle parked on a priority snow route needs to be moved or it will be towed and the driver fined.

The city asked residents to remove snow from any sidewalks adjacent to a property they own or rent.

Public Works said it will continue to monitor road conditions and adjust plans as needed.

Jefferson City Public Works

According to Britt Smith of Jefferson City Public Works, a full crew of 24 plow drivers reported at about 6 a.m. Wednesday and has been plowing and treating the roads. He said by the evening, they are hoping to have the main roads in good shape and the secondary roads not far behind those.

Smith said they've been working on roads for the past few days amid multiple rounds of storms and brutal cold. The work has taken a toll on the department.

"It is definitely a grind," Smith said. "The crews have put in a tremendous amount of hours ... the equipment has put in a tremendous amount of time as well, and it's not just the guys in the driver's seat, it's the mechanics and everything else and the severely cold temperatures really add to that."

He added that everything has "taken a toll on them physically and mentally as well."

Smith said a lot of his crew has been working roughly 16-hour days.

"We've basically been doing one crew (and having them do) a double shift and then we're getting an overnight crew that has other arrangements within the city and they're doing a double shift," Smith said. "Basically they're doing a shift in the overnight hours and then they're doing their regular job during the day ... all these people that are involved in this have been working roughly 16 hour days."

Smith said crews have put a lot of chemicals on the roads within the past few days to help with the snow and ice. Since Sunday the department has used 1,200 tons of salt and 5,000 gallons of calcium, he said.

"That is an extreme amount for us," Smith said. "On a typical snow we'll use anywhere between 300-500 tons (of salt)."

He said the city has never used more calcium on the roads. Smith said typically the city uses 200 to 300 gallons.

Smith said he's hoping to have subdivision roads and cul-de-sacs at least mostly clear by the end of Wednesday.

MoDOT

Jason Shafer, Central District engineer, said MoDOT has had crews out nonstop since Sunday. He said sunshine on Tuesday helped and warmer temperatures on the way will melt some of the snow and ice.

Shafer said MoDOT has 1,500 trucks on the road statewide. And he warns drivers to slow down and give trucks lots of space.

"I know the snow today is pretty powdery and there's some snow clouds behind our trucks," Shafer said. "We've had multiple trucks hit today so I would encourage everyone to slow down and be very attentive to what's going on."

Shafer says the Central District expects to have a full staff working on the roads overnight.

Roads had improved greatly heading into Wednesday, but snow began falling early in the morning and continued into the afternoon. State highways in Mid-Missouri ranged from mostly clear to covered, with the worst conditions in the Jefferson City and Lake of the Ozarks area.

Boone County Road and Bridge

Greg Edington at Boone County Road and Bridge said road crews were out Wednesday, focusing on plowing and trying to lay off using chemicals until after the snow stops falling.

Edington says the county's full crew on the day shift consists of about 30 people and the night shift has 12 people. He says the night shift will be coming in at 7 p.m. and they are focusing on first-priority paved surface roads.

"After significant snowfall, it usually takes about two days to get to all of our gravel roads," Edington said.

Edington expects the secondary gravel roads to be cleared sometime late Thursday to Friday morning. He said the county has 14 tandem snowplows to clear gravel roads.