Politics & Government

MoDOT Ready For Rush Hour, More Concerned About Tuesday

MoDOT is now more concerned with Tuesday morning's rush hour than Monday evening, but crews are on the roads and ready.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a winter weather advisory for the St. Louis area that remais in effect until midnight. Meteorologists are forecasting accumulations between 2 and 4 inches for the metro area.

According to the NWS, the latest indications are that the heaviest snowfall will occur during the late afternoon and evening hours. Snow with some sleet accumulation is possible, with the storm expected to end late Monday.

However, Kara Price, a spokesperson for the (MoDOT), tells Patch that crews are now expecting the winter storm to run through Tuesday morning's rush hour. They have been pretreating the roads since Saturday night in anticipation of the storm, and they are ready for Monday evening rush hour and Tuesday morning.

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"We expect tomorrow the storm to last through rush hour until about 10 a.m.," Price told Patch late Monday afternoon. "Right now and through the evening rush hour might just be wet, but that can change very quickly into the overnight hours and especially into the early morning."

Price advises drivers to leave for work a little later Tuesday morning if possible.

Find out what's happening in Town And Country-Manchesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We'll be putting down double the amount of salt for the evening (Monday) and tomorrow morning's rush hour, to avoid the situation like we had a month ago where trucks got stuck in the traffic," Price said."So if there is any refreezing, it will help melt that."

Price said that so far Monday the pavement temperatures have stayed just above freezing and that's helped much of Monday's accumulation melt on roadways."

"It's making the pavement wet, so luckily there isn't a whole lot of snow to plow, but we are still treating roads to prevent slickness," Price explained. "As we get into the overnight hours, temperatures will drop and roads will freeze. Bridges and ramps are the major concerns as we go into the evening."

Price said full crews of more than 400 employees running 200 trucks are working 12-hour shifts around the clock.

Drivers are advised to check road conditions by visiting the MoDOT website or calling its hotline at 888-275-6636. 


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