MoDOT is short hundreds of plow drivers for snowstorm. What could that mean for KC highways?
As the Kansas City-area braces for what could be the biggest snowfall in recent years, roads and highways may sit unplowed longer than usual while Missouri struggles to recruit workers.
The Missouri Department of Transportation, or MoDOT, warned on Friday that a shortage of workers could threaten its ability to keep state roads clear after the expected weekend storm. The Kansas City-area could see anywhere from 4 to 13 inches of snow over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
During winter storms, MoDOT is in charge of plowing state highways and bridges while local governments, such as Kansas City, handle local and city roads.
MoDOT crews work 12-hour shifts until major roads are mostly clear. However, the likely severity of the storm as well as a shortage of employees who can drive trucks mean it will take longer than usual, said Melissa Black, a spokesperson for MoDOT’s Kansas City district.
“With the reduced staff, we also will not be able to complete as many passes on the roads over a 24-hour period as we have in the past,” Black said.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, during a news conference on Friday, said he was disappointed by the possibility of staffing issues affecting the state agency’s response to the storm.
“Certainly the 510,000 people in Kansas City who pay taxes to the state of Missouri to help support this issue, would expect the type of treatment and way to address this storm that we’re seeing from our local government jurisdictions throughout western Missouri as well,” Lucas said.
Lucas said he hopes MoDOT communicates “rather clearly” with the city about its expected weaknesses, including where the agency might need support.
“What I don’t think anyone in this region wants, inside Kansas City or outside of it, is for folks to just say, ‘Well, maybe they’re going to do 40% of the work, because staffing is an issue,’” he said.
This delay in treatments could be particularly prevalent in rural areas or “lower-volume” routes, which Black said will “take significantly longer to clear after a winter storm.” MoDOT may not be able to address those roads for 24 hours or more after the storm ends.
Concerns over MoDOT’s ability to clear roads after the impending winter storm come as the state agency has for years grappled with staffing shortages.
The agency, which has roughly 3,000 workers, is “several hundred employees” below what is needed to cover more than one shift during a statewide storm, Black said. If the storm lasts longer than one 12-hour shift, the agency will not have enough employees to fill all of its trucks on the second shift.
Employee experience will also be a factor. Heading into this winter, nearly 19% of MoDOT’s snowplow operators had less than one year of experience. Nearly 37% had less than three years experience, Black said.
“A light winter last year didn’t get all last year’s new hires their full on-the-job training,” Black said. “Many of these new employees will still be in training with a seasoned operator for the first part of winter, which also limits how many trucks can be staffed.”
Black said it was hard to say what has caused the agency’s staffing shortages.
“We continue to advertise and hire,” she said. “And while we made some progress over the fall, we are still short overall.”
‘Rural residents vulnerable’
The impending winter storm also comes as the top lawmaker in the Missouri Senate has expressed broad displeasure with how the state agency has operated in recent years.
Incoming Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin, a Shelbina Republican, on Friday took issue with the agency’s practice of reassigning workers from rural areas to help larger cities during snow storms.
“This practice has left rural residents vulnerable,” O’Laughlin said in a statement. “And with another major storm approaching, I am deeply concerned about whether rural areas will once again be left without the resources they need to stay safe.”
Despite O’Laughlin’s concerns, at least one Kansas City-area lawmaker said he expects MoDOT will be prepared for the incoming storm.
“I have not had any complaints from any constituents,” said Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee’s Summit Republican. “This storm is certainly anticipated…I assume they’re not gonna be caught off guard.”
Cierpiot attributed some of the agency’s staffing problems to low pay, which he said has partly been resolved due to several pay raises for state employees over the years. In 2023, for example, lawmakers passed a 8.7% pay raise for all state employees.
“They were bleeding people for quite a while,” he said. “Because state pay was not up to speed, they were losing people all the time. I think some of that bleeding has stopped. I think they’re having much more success keeping and maintaining people now.”
For Lucas, Kansas City’s mayor, the state of Missouri and MoDOT have a responsibility to ensure its highways “are not public safety threats.”
“I understand staffing challenges,” he said. “We face those in a number of different ways, but Kansas City, over the years, has done real work to try to address them.”
This story was originally published January 3, 2025 at 2:53 PM.
