KSHB 41 reporter Grant Stephens covers stories involving downtown Kansas City, Missouri up to North Kansas City. Share your story idea with Grant.
Snow and ice have been cleared from many roadways in the Kansas City area, side streets continue to remain slick or snowpacked in some areas.
It's been the cause of several school district cancellations throughout the metro, including places like the North Kansas City School district which cites the condition of side streets as the reason it canceled in-person learning Thursday.
Kansas City's Director of Public Works Michael Shaw says overall crews have done a great job clearing roads, or at least making them passable.
However the smaller, tighter, winding side streets are an issue for the large plow trucks in KC's fleet. For that, they resort to smaller, more maneuverable pickups with salt spreaders and plows mounted to them.
Shaw says the smaller trucks can't push as much snow as the larger ones, which are relegated to larger roadways. That means it takes more passes to clear an area with the amounts of snowfall we've seen.
"Mother Nature is undefeated. The creator is never going to be greater than the creator. So whatever we do we can only hope to contain the effects. We can't stop it from occurring. And it's truly going to take whole days after," he said. "So right now we're in the clean up mode. Get these streets as clean as possible. And that's tough. These are the tough miles."
City Manager Brian Platt says the neighborhoods and side streets now have packed snow on the roadways. It means the roads are driveable but it's difficult to clear.
The city is now focusing on salting those streets, and allowing the slight warm up and salt to begin melting some of the snowpack away.
"We need that sun to get out and help activate that salt and help us. Any time that you see a snowstorm with several cold days behind it, know it's going to be tough no matter what the conditions are," Shaw said.
Crews will still be working to clear streets 24 hours a day until more snow and ice has been cleared, with a specific focus on the northland.
