MACON, MO --
As you are preparing for the upcoming winter storm, so is the Missouri Department of Transportation.
MoDOT officials say crews are out on the roads before, during, and after the storm hits to get driving conditions back to normal.
“After each storm we always get ready for the next storm, making sure all of our trucks and our spreaders are in proper working order. Also, making sure we got plenty of material ready to go. Even though it's the middle of January, we still have about 75 percent of our salt that we started with this winter, so our materials are in good shape,” said Kevin James, Assistant District Engineer.
James says colder temperatures make the materials less effective, so it may take longer to get the roads cleared after this storm. He says MoDOT tries to be consistent with plowing the 14 counties in the district.
“Every one of our operators does record when they're going out and what routes they go on, so sometimes we might get a complaint that says Route A was missed and where actually I'd go back, see when it was ran to verify that or just to see what the issue was and then talk with whoever calls this in to make sure we got the right information,” said James.
MoDot's first priority routes are Highways 63, 36, and 6. Fewer resources are used on less traveled and lettered routes.
Road conditions are available here.