LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. -- Crews from the Missouri Department of Transportation worked overnight to prepare highways for Tuesday morning’s snow. Beginning at midnight, workers treated roads with salt to melt away snowfall.
Snow plow drivers spent the morning clearing buildup off roads. The cold temperatures prevented MoDOT from using certain techniques to melt ice and snow.
“Today is very cold so we cannot use salt brine or other liquids because that would freeze on the roads,” explained Lynelle Luther, MoDOT’s Maintenance Engineer. “So we are monitoring for slick spots and we are pushing snow off the roads as necessary.”
Most of Missouri’s highways were clear of snow by midday Tuesday, but bridges and overpasses remained slicker than the rest of the roads. 41 Action News saw a pickup truck on the shoulder after it crashed on a bridge on Interstate 70 eastbound near US 40 Highway.
MoDOT directors said the good thing about snow this week is there are fewer people at work in between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, which results in fewer cars on the road during rush hour.
“We were very fortunate this week,” Luther said. “We may still have a lot of traffic on the road, but it will be spread out throughout the day.”
Luther had these tips for drivers to be safe on the icy and snow-covered roads:
- Give yourself plenty of time
- Drive slowly
- Respect the road conditions
- Move over for show plows and emergency vehicles
- Wear your seat belt
Several crashes had happened in the mid-morning hours Tuesday due to weather conditions, including a fatal crash on I-435 SB near the Missouri River in Platte County.
Other crashes happened across the metro on I-635 SB at Parallel Parkway, several places along I-70 WB, and I-35 NB at Front Street.
Some people suffered minor injuries in all of the crashes.
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