‘We’re dreaming of warm weather’: MoDOT gearing up to clear significant snow, again
You’re probably used to this routine by now: plan ahead, take care of your errands early, load up on your favorite munchies and stay off the roads.
A winter storm watch will go into effect at 6 p.m. Saturday and end at 3 p.m. Sunday, dumping as much of 7 inches snow along and south of Interstate 70, according to the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill. Expect drifting snow and temperatures to plummet at the start of the week.
And we’re only 19 days away from the official start of spring.
Many churches, community groups and others have already rescheduled their Sunday services or canceled activities, opting for an early Saturday start time before the heavy snowfall begins.
Many road crews spent Friday patching countless potholes throughout the region. They plan to immediately switch over to snow plowing duties once the wicked weather hits.
Crews with the Missouri Department of Transportation will work overnight Saturday during the height of the snow storm to clear interstates and major roadways, Lynelle Luther, Kansas City district maintenance engineer, said Friday.
“This one is an important storm because we are having a significant amount of snow,” Luther said. “Having the storm start overnight is going to be helpful to us because we will have our crews out there and we will already be plowing by daylight.”
One of the benefits of a weekend snow storm is there’s less traffic, which enables crews to clear roadways at a much faster pace.
Motorists are encouraged to stay home if possible. Those on the roads should drive at speeds appropriate for the conditions and give road crews plenty of room to work.
Urban areas have more traffic lanes. It helps to allow snowplow crews to keep their formations, Luther said.
“We do find that drivers are impatient. They try to pass on the shoulder, they try to get in between the vehicles, and that is very frightening for our drivers because someone could get seriously hurt in that type of situation,” she said.
In Kansas City, crews will hit the streets late Saturday and work overnight, clearing major roadways. Residential crews will report in at 6 a.m. Sunday and will clear neighborhood streets throughout the day.
The Kansas Department of Transportation posted on Twitter that drivers should check www.kandrive.org for updated road conditions. The Kansas Highway Patrol also announced that at noon Saturday, it will begin towing any abandoned vehicles from the shoulders of the interstates and highways.
Much colder weather will push into the region after the storm, plunging temperatures to from near zero into the negative single digits. Expect wind chills to hover around -15 degrees to -20 degrees on Monday morning.
Luther said the agency has plenty of salt and other ice melting chemicals ready for the snow storm, but that its patience is running low.
“Everyone is tired; we’re dreaming of warm weather,” she said. “But the staff is in good spirits and they are ready to tackle this storm like any other.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2019 at 4:59 PM.
