Public Works Operations Update - Wednesday, February 28 at 8:00 am

(COLUMBIA, MO) -

Forecast - may receive another one-half to one inch of snow late Thursday and into Friday morning.

 

 

Snow operations customer service line 573-874-6289.

A full crew and resources will continue to plow and treat streets on Thursday. All 1st and 2nd priority roads have been plowed and treated. The majority of residential streets have been plowed. Crews and supervisors are also evaluating streets which have been plowed to ensure any small areas have not been missed.

We are using plows, loaders and graders to move snow. The snow plow blade relies on gravity to make contact with the surface and hence scrape layers off of the snow-pack. It is difficult to plow down to the road surface. Plowing is fairly quick and allows us to make roads passable. Loaders and graders use hydraulic pressure to scrape snow and ice off of the surface and often are able to clear down to the road surface. However, this method is much slower.

As temperatures rise above freezing during the day and the snow and ice melts, pooling of melted snow and ice can occur. Storm water inlets are blocked by the snow and ice pack. Crews are watching for these areas and are trying to clear the storm water inlets when a problem is noted. Customers can call the 573-874-6289 number to report pooling of water on roads and crews will address the issue.

In an effort to plow as many residential streets as possible and in an attempt not to push additional snow in front of driveways and mailboxes, plow drivers will make a pass in each direction on each street and will not plow "curb to curb". This method will open lanes of traffic on residential streets so that residents can get to main roads and public safety vehicles can respond to calls.

While we do try not to push snow in front of driveways, it is often impossible not to push some snow from the street across a driveway entrance. Piling snow to the right of your drive while facing the street when clearing your drive will help but may not prevent snow plowing from partially blocking driveways and curbside mailboxes.

Public Works has committed all available resources to plowing and treating roads. Additional equipment and personnel from various city departments and divisions have been pressed into service to get roads cleared as soon as possible. We continue to work 24 hours to make Columbia roads safe and passable.