Street maintenance works around-the-clock to clear roadways
By Chris Fortune
As morning commuters slept through an overnight snowstorm, street maintenance crews were making sure roads were drivable by the time they woke up.
Over the course of about 24 hours, from Monday into Tuesday, 4 to 6 inches of snow blanketed St. Joseph. Around-the-clock treatment ensued, with about 22 workers from the St. Joseph Public Works and Transportation Department plowing snow and putting salt on the roads.
“It’s two shifts, two 12-hour shifts, seven at night to seven in the morning, seven in the morning to seven at night,” Superintendent of Streets and Infrastructure Jackson Jones said.
Equipment operators, like Dalton Crockett, can fit a few breaks into their shift before they go back to clearing the roads.
“I like salting a lot, but plowing is pretty fun,” he said. “You have a partner, it takes a long time — normally three days, depending on how deep the snow is. It can get intense.”
The City of St. Joseph declared Phase II of its emergency snow ordinance Monday and Tuesday afternoon, which calls for vehicles to be removed from emergency snow routes so they can be safely treated. Vehicles that are not moved can be ticketed or towed.
“Moving cars off the street would help, especially if we’re plowing it,” Crockett said. “Weaving in and out makes it kind of difficult. And the trucks can slide — the front ends — you can hit stuff.”
To prevent sliding on snow or ice, salt truck drivers are dropping 800 to 1,000 pounds of salt per lane mile. The public works department has 6,500 tons of treated salt stored. Treated salt has beet juice sprayed on it to prevent salt clumps and lower the effective melting point of the salt.
“It’s really been a good addition to our little arsenal against the snow and ice,” Jones said.
As public works crews clear roads in St. Joseph, the Missouri Department of Transportation is clearing local highways.
“Yesterday we started out getting a lot of snow, but the temperatures were up and so there was some melting going on, which made it very slushy,” MoDOT District Maintenance and Traffic Engineer Greg Bolon said.
St. Joseph saw between 4 and 6 inches from Monday into Tuesday. Street maintenance crews are preparing for further treatment as they expect temperatures to drop and winds to blow snow back over the roads in the following days.
“Things that we don’t get clear today will probably freeze over, and we’ll have a tougher time tomorrow,” Bolon said.
Residents can do their part to make it easier for street crews. MoDOT street maintenance trucks clear snow with a 14-foot front plow, so it’s important to give them plenty of space. Salt spreaders on the back of trucks also prevent drivers from seeing through their rearview mirror.
“Give us enough distance that you don’t run into us, or nothing happens along that line,” Bolon said. “But we’re out there facing the same challenges you are.”
