MoDOT is still short snow plow drivers for winter storm. Are KC-area roads being treated?
Ahead of another winter storm in the Kansas City area this week, crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation were out treating all state roads in the area with a mix of salt and water.
But while workers pre-treat the roads, the state agency has also been hobbled by a shortage of employees that has sparked concerns about its ability to handle major winter storms.
The storm is expected to push through the region overnight Tuesday, covering the area with several inches of powdery snow, according to the National Weather Service. Freezing rain is also possible.
Linda Horn, a MoDOT spokesperson, said employees will work 12-hour shifts throughout the storm and afterward until major roads “are returned back to mostly clear conditions.” MoDOT crews will first focus on interstates and major highways and then work on smaller roads.
This week’s storm comes roughly a month after the Kansas City area was pummeled by a record-breaking blizzard. MoDOT, which is in charge of plowing state-owned highways and bridges, faced some criticism for its handling of the storm as roads were left unplowed for days.
When asked whether the agency learned anything this time around, Horn signaled that the upcoming storm would not be as severe as last month’s. She pointed to the fact that the previous storm hit the majority of the state with freezing rain, sleet and snow.
“Missouri has not experienced a storm of this magnitude since the winter of 2012-2013,” Horn said of last month’s blizzard. “This was followed by bitter cold temperatures for a week afterward which make salt and other chemicals significantly less effective to melt the ice and snow.”
This storm, Horn said, should be primarily snow.
‘More boots on the ground.’
But the criticism of MoDOT’s response also comes as the agency has regularly warned about staffing shortages and, according to Horn, is currently “a couple hundred short” of having enough employees to fill every snow plow truck for multiple shifts.
The agency has roughly 3,000 employees around the state to work on 34,000 miles of state roads, Horn said. While MoDOT has hired new employees, there are still vacancies in positions that would help with winter storms, she said.
In the Missouri Capitol, MoDOT is urging state lawmakers to fund an additional 250 workers in the state’s next budget. While the agency also has 53 open positions across the state, Director Ed Hassinger told lawmakers last week they’re hoping to fill the majority of those positions by July.
“We get to the highest priority stuff, but the things in your communities that you notice, you know, the litter, the deer on the highway, the sign is hanging, all of those things,” he said. “We need some budget authority to hire some more boots on the ground.”
As the agency has struggled with staffing, lawmakers have sought to address state employee pay over the years through salary increases. In 2023, for example, lawmakers passed an 8.7% pay raise for all state employees.
Still, the agency lists numerous open positions on its website, including in the Kansas City area. The starting pay for a maintenance worker is listed at $19.69 per hour.
Rep. Michael Johnson, a Kansas City Democrat, said he was very concerned about the storm and Missouri roads given his experiences during the last few months of inclement weather. He said he hopes the region is prepared for the storm, saying he’d “rather us be safe than sorry.”
“I think that anytime we are so understaffed on something that is as important as transportation and making sure our roads are safe, it’s at the top of the list of things we need to do,” he said.
