‘Stay home’: Ahead of snow storm, KC drivers urged to keep off roads while plows work
Once you get home Tuesday night, road crews have a suggestion: Stay there.
Although a few snowflakes might start falling in the Kansas City area during the evening rush hour, the storm isn’t expected to strike here until later, according to the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill.
When it does, road conditions could get dangerous.
“What we are hoping is that the forecast is right and that drivers get home and plan to stay home,” said Laurie Arellano, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Transportation. “Once the rush hour is over, we have our crews out there and start treating.”
Kansas City road crews also have been out treating city streets ahead of the snow, officials said.
The winter storm is moving in from the south, with snow starting about 4 p.m. in areas south of U.S. 50 highway, according to the weather service. Snow is expected to start falling in the Kansas City metro area after 6 p.m.
The heaviest snowfall is expected between 6 p.m. and midnight. Wind gusts of 20 to 25 mph and the moderate to heavy snowfall could create low visibility and poor road conditions.
Freezing drizzle is expected to move into the Kansas City area about midnight.
Snowfall totals are expected to be between 2 and 3 inches in Kansas City. Some areas in northern Missouri near the Iowa border could see up to 8 inches of snow.
The Kansas City area should see only a glazing of ice from the freezing drizzle. But that will be enough to create dangerously slick conditions on untreated roads, sidewalks and parking lots.
Although marginal snow amounts are expected, this snow event could be dangerous if people are not careful, the National Weather Service said.
For those drivers who must get out on the roads tonight, KDOT asked that they pay attention to snowplows working to treat the roads. The plows are traveling 25 to 35 mph, which is likely much slower than drivers anticipate.
This winter season has been among the worst for KDOT snowplows being hit in traffic. So far, 14 plows across the state have been hit, including 5 in a 24-hour period in the Kansas City area last Friday, said Arellano, the KDOT spokeswoman.
The majority of those crashes are from behind, which indicates that the plows were traveling slower than what drivers were expecting. Those crashes not only take snowplows out of service, but the drivers’ vehicles typically are totaled.
Chris Hernandez, a spokesman for Kansas City, said the city started off the season with 13,000 tons of salt, and the city has taken the option to call in an additional 10,000 tons as it prepares for the next round of snow.
He said crews have been on 12-hour shifts since last week, when Kansas City received several inches of snow. Crews spent Tuesday treating the roads, conducting maintenance work and responding to 311 calls ahead of the latest snow storm.
“All those things are happening today, and as the storm moves in tonight we’re going to have the full fleet of 200 trucks out on the streets plowing to try to tackle that,” Hernandez said.
The city is asking residents to avoid driving on the roads if possible Tuesday night as plows work.
The Kansas City District of the Missouri Department of Transportation urged drivers to head home early if they could. The early stages of a snow event can be the most dangerous because the roads are slick and drivers are caught unprepared.
The Kansas Highway Patrol announced that it was towing abandoned vehicles from the shoulders of the interstates and highways in the Kansas City area to allow road crews to clear the roads.
Drivers whose vehicles have been towed can call *47 to speak with a highway patrol dispatcher to find where their vehicle was removed to. The towing of vehicles will be at the owner’s expense.
“This should be one of the type of storms that doesn’t leave a lot of ice or long-lasting slick conditions,” Arrellano said. “If we can get drivers to stay home tonight and allow more time in the morning, we will get things back to normal as soon as possible.”
