MoDOT Prepares for White Christmas

It's going to be a white Christmas in Mehlville.

Missouri Department of Transportation crews are preparing for 2 to 4 inches of snow on Christmas Eve, as predicted by the National Weather Service. Some pockets might receive a bit more snow.

Forecasts call for the snow to start Friday morning and last through Friday evening.

MoDOT currently is pretreating major routes, beginning with interstates. The second-most heavily traveled roads will be treated next. In Mehlville, this will mainly be Lemay Ferry and Telegraph Roads. Crews will then plow the remaining less-traveled roads, concentrating on hills, curves and intersections.

With more drivers on the roads during the holidays, MoDOT officials say the best time to travel is Thursday or early Friday morning.

"We strongly urge motorists to do any traveling this evening or very early Friday morning. Since the snow accumulation is expected to occur after noon on Friday, stay home and limit travel on the roads that afternoon and evening," said Owen Hasson, St. Louis area maintenance supervisor for MoDOT. 

For up to date travel information, motorists can log on to www.modot.org to view an online Traveler Information Map, or call 1-888-ASK-MODOT (888-275-6636) for the agency's customer service center for road conditions. The hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Plowing Priorities

MoDOT targets the most heavily-traveled roads first, starting with interstates such as I-270. Next will be regionally significant routes and numbered highways such as Lindbergh Boulevard, then lettered highways, which have the least amount of traffic

St. Louis County will be responsible for clearing non-state roads and side streets. The county has two out of its five units in South County and a total of 110 plows. 

About 450 MoDOT workers will be on alert and 220 trucks will be available to plow roads, Hasson said the holiday weekend would not affect snow removal from state roads.

"There's some disappointed staff out there, but there's no change to our schedule. We'll have every truck with a plow on front out there clearing roads," Hasson said. "If it snows one inch or four inches, we'll be out there most of the weekend."

Crews monitor roads for snowdrifts and re-freezing when they're not clearing roads, he said.

The road crews also will pre-treat interstates and bridges with a liquid brine solution.

Hasson said the snow shouldn't present the same problems that travelers faced last Wednesday during an ice storm.

"Every road is a problem when it comes to ice," he said.

"We can't pre-treat for ice," Hasson continued. "When it rains, the rain washes away all our hard work. So we can't pre-treat a road until we know for sure what what's coming—snow or ice.

But they know the snow's coming Christmas Eve, and MoDOT crews are ready for it, Hasson said.His family is another matter.

"I'd rather have a non-white Christmas," Hasson said. "So would my family."

With more than 450 employees working on this storm, Hasson said that a white Christmas isn't as exciting as it may be to the rest of us.