KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Independence. Share your story idea with Claire.
Cities across the Kansas City area are preparing for the incoming winter storm and Grandview is no exception.
Grandview’s public works department is fully staffed ahead of the weekend. Crews have spent the week doing dry runs and pre-treating city roads. One new change is that they are making their pre-treatment mixture instead of ordering it.
“We’ve actually started making brine in-house this year, which is going to save us a lot of money, and we'll be able to also cover way more for way less. So we'll be able to start doing some pre-treating in the residential areas this year,” said streets superintendent Ben Brichacek.
Brichcacek also showed off the new plow truck and new plow ops system which allows him to see where his crews are and provides turn-by-turn navigation.
“We’re not going to be missing any streets now. This is going to kick it into my office so I can see where everybody is at. If somebody is stuck, they’re not responding on the radio, I can pinpoint exactly where they’re at,” said Brichacek as he swiped through the tablet’s screens. “Eventually I will be able to see how much salt they’re dropping, if their spreaders are up too high, all that stuff will be available here.”
As far as this weekend goes, Brichacek said his crews will be reporting Saturday and working through the storm rotating on 12-hour shifts until roads are clear.
He points out that plows won’t be able to hit a residential road if cars are parked on the street and reminds people to move their cars before the snow. He also wants everyone to remember to give their plows and crews plenty of space on the roadways.
