It was a manic Monday on many of Missouri’s roadways due to the winter storm that blew in.
Daren Hamelink, State Maintenance Director for MoDOT, said workers began treating I-70 and other roadways over the weekend before the snow arrived. But he added that it “rolled in faster than we thought.”
“We had been working to apply additional treatment on Monday when that storm rolled in,” he told Missourinet. “At that point, we just transitioned to snow removal.”
The Missouri State Highway Patrol received 817 service calls on Monday. They included:
- 214 stranded drivers
- 358 crashes
- 41 injuries
- 1 death
The snow-covered roads also prompted State Sen. Nick Schroer, R-St. Charles County, to blast MoDOT on social media, accusing the state agency of causing a “public health crisis.”
Countless wrecks, countless cars abandoned, countless roads that MODOT has the duty to keep clear and safe left in dangerous conditions HOURS after a well known storm hits. Literally five hours getting home for a ride that should have taken a half hour at most. Who saved the day?…
— Nick Schroer (@NickBSchroer) December 1, 2025
Hamelink disagrees.
“We were working to apply an additional treatment on Monday when that storm rolled in and so, I feel like we were prepared as we could be,” he said. “Mother Nature does throw us curveballs, and we adjust and do the best we can based on the situation.”
That curveball also included where the winter storm hit.
“It drifted further south than we thought it would,” Hamelink said. “I think the initial forecast was saying it would be up in the northern part of Missouri, basically from (U.S.) Route 36 north and obviously it got down, you know, south of I-70 and even down towards Springfield and down into the Bootheel.”
He also said that every available MoDOT driver has been on the road since Monday.
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