Winter is coming, and MoDOT is prepping.
The Missouri Department of Transportation is holding a winter weather drill Thursday all across the Snow-Me State. Daren Hamelink, State Maintenance Director, said MoDOT snowplows will be out and about as people are driving to work.
“Yeah, the larger plows are 14-foot wide, so just be aware of that. When you meet a plow, give them plenty of room, get over if you can a little bit, especially on narrow bridges – that can be problematic,” He told Missourinet. “Our drivers, you know, are told to yield when they can.”
Hamelink said they have a lot of new drivers to get prepared for winter.
“We’re running about a third of our drivers that that have three years of experience or less,” he said. “So, it’s important for them to, you know, get familiar with their routes, and also just go through all the equipment and make sure everything’s ready to go.”
Salt-spreading trucks will be out as well, though they won’t be dropping any on the roads tomorrow. The drill is designed to train MoDOT workers to prepare for both snow and ice storms.
“We go over all the basics, like we tell them to be prepared in terms of their chainsaws, backup generators,” Hamelink said. “They’ve got ice cleats, so they don’t slip and fall.”
The winter weather drill will be statewide. It begins in the heart of the morning commute – at 8:00 a.m. in rural areas and 9:00 a.m. in urban areas – including in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Joplin, Columbia, and St. Joseph.
The drill is planned to continue until about 3 p.m. It will be mainly on major routes in rural and urban Missouri.
During the drill, the department’s emergency operations centers will be active and emergency communications systems will be tested.
The Missouri Department of Transportation’s winter weather budget is about $50 million annually.
The department is also dealing with a shortage of plow truck drivers for the winter. It lacks several hundred employees to clear roads and bridges this winter, which means drivers could be in for tricky travels when the roads are slick.
To apply for a MoDOT job, click here.
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