Columbia and Jefferson City snow plow service almost fully staffed ahead of winter

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

With the winter nearing, Columbia and Jefferson City snow plow crews are almost fully staffed for when snow and ice cover Mid-Missouri.

The City of Columbia has 36 snow-plowing trucks in its fleet, including 14 large trucks, four smaller large trucks, four medium-sized trucks and 13 1-ton trucks. Columbia Public Works spokesperson John Ogan said the city also has a motor grader with a plow attachment to handle areas with the heaviest snow and ice accumulation. Ogan says having a diverse fleet of trucks allows the city to manage the wide range of conditions it faces during the winter.

Ogan says about 60% of Columbia's snow plow team joined in 2019, but the department still has vacancies open in the street division.

"We currently have four vacancies, in the street division, so that's pretty good going into winter, it's about 10%," said the engineering and operations manager for Columbia Public Works, Richard Stone. "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."

Britt Smith, Operations Division director of Jefferson City Public Works, also says the city is in better shape staffing-wise than in years past.

"Right now we are one staff member short," Smith said. "We'd certainly like to be fully staffed, but we feel blessed in this climate to just be one.”

Smith said last year the department was down a few drivers.

Smith says a good amount of the snow plowing staff are fairly new and haven't seen big winters yet, but to prepare, they drive around to familiarize themselves with their designated plowing areas to make sure they know all the roads they need to plow. However, more experienced plow drivers help the new drivers figure out the routes.

Smith also said the department is dealing with aging equipment.

"I'd like to be doing a lot better, to be honest," said Smith. "Snow plowing is just hard on equipment to begin with and a lot of our equipment is older, we've been talking with our city council about that and they have gotten in the current budget for us to replace some of that equipment."

When winter weather hits, the department will have 24 plow trucks out on the roads.

Stone said the City of Columbia has purchased new snow management trucks to replace older trucks, but will not receive them until after this winter.

"As far as equipment, we do have some aging vehicles that are out there, but we still should be able, thanks to our fleet department, to keep them going," said Stone. "We anticipate having the number of vehicles that we're supposed to have on the road."

The City of Columbia held its annual dry snow run Oct. 7 to familiarize the snow plow crews with the routes and to review safety procedures, which Stone says is one of the most important ways for them to prepare.

Jason Lampkins has been plowing and maintaining Columbia roads for 14 years. He says the past few winters haven't been too bad, but driving the snow plow through the city can be a challenge.

"Maneuvering around all the vehicles out on the street, and now with the new roll-off trash cans, it's going to play an even bigger part in maneuvering around all of them and watching traffic as well," said Lampkins. "There shouldn't be any obstacles for us to have to fight."

During the dry run, Lampkins kept his eyes peeled for anything that may cause issues for him and other snow plowers.

"I'm watching to see if there's any raised manholes or a water valve head that's coming up out of the pavement, so when it comes time to plow, we can either address it or I just need to watch for that one," said Lampkins.

Lampkins says if he hits any of those obstacles it could break the plow or the plow could jump over the obstacle, causing that spot to go unplowed.

The city's policy states that if there are more than 2 inches of snow on first and second-priority routes with designated signs, residents are not supposed to park there. When snow reaches 4 inches high, all city streets are plowed and treated to be drivable 24 hours, seven days a week once priority routes are passable.

Jefferson City does not have a policy for parking on the roads when snow is falling, but Smith asks that cars be moved off the road to make it easier for snow plow drivers to clear the roadways.

"Jefferson City is an older community, we have a lot of roads that are very narrow and, whenever there are cars parked on the road, obviously people want to be at their house," Smith said. "But if they can get those cars off the road, maybe in a parking lot down the street, maybe in their driveway, it makes so much easier for that driver to get that road clear, especially in those big and heavy snows."

Smith also suggested drivers delay leaving their homes until the roads are fully cleared by the snow plows.

Watch the ABC 17 News Stormtrack Winter Weather Special at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Nov. 22.