KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Following a large snowstorm last week that ushered in 2021, officials in Kansas City, Missouri, say they will make changes to the city's snow removal strategy, including putting a larger focus on residential routes and adding more vehicles to operations.
In a news release, City Manager Brian Platt said the city will deploy another 50 trucks and 100 drivers for future snowstorms by using resources already available.
“We will create a larger, 24-hour plowing operation during storms,” Platt said in the release.
The city plans to move city employees in the solid waste and water departments to snow removal during storms. Trash and recycling also will be suspended during big winter storms to make those drivers available for plowing.
Other changes to the city’s snow removal operations include more salting during storms; adding overnight shifts to residential routes; and using multiple trucks in tandem to plow multi-lane arterial streets, making sure the street is fully cleared on the first pass.
On Tuesday morning, black ice formed on some roads and sidewalks, causing several crashes. Mayor Quinton Lucas said that part of the changes will aim to improve "the treatment of residential streets in all neighborhoods so our roads don’t turn into sheets of ice days after the storm is over."
Another system could bring rain and snow to the Kansas City area on Wednesday and into Thursday morning, according to the 41 Action News weather team.
