ST. LOUIS – With snow in the forecast, area road crews spent Tuesday preparing or Wednesday’s morning commute. While minor accumulations are forecasted, it does not take much to cause problems during a morning rush.
Joseph Monroe, Illinois Department of Transportation District 8’s Operations Engineer, says crews were already out Tuesday.
“We took the opportunity this afternoon, once it dried up, to go ahead and pretreat some of the bridges and more frost-prone areas,” Monroe said.
Bob Becker, MoDOT District Maintenance Engineer for St. Louis, says that crews are working to keep things ice-free.
“Try to get a treatment down so it reduces that freezing temperature on the roadways so that everything just stays wet,” he said.
Both will have crews out in the early morning hours trying to keep ahead of the snow and the traffic.
“A prudent amount of salt, not overkilling it, but a prudent amount of salt on each round should keep us in a situation where we are ahead of the game,” Monroe said.
Their goal is to keep the roads wet, but there is always the chance you come across one bridge or overpass where road temperatures are just a bit colder and things are just a bit icier. That’s when crashes can happen.
“People need to slow down and be careful. Give our trucks plenty of room. They’re trying to get a treatment down,” Becker said.
The bottom line, even with light snow totals, giving yourself extra time is the right thing to do.
“If you give them room to work, they’ll get you where you need to go tomorrow. I’m confident of that,” Monroe said.
With less than an inch in the forecast, we will not change our mostly snowless winter so far. Saint Louis has only seen one inch of snow since Dec. 1, 2020. The National Weather Service reports that ranks 9th lowest all-time through Jan. 25.
