Kansas City begins to pretreat roads as snow plows are prepped

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Crews around Kansas City have started to pre-treat roads as snow plows are prepared for an incoming winter storm.

Kansas City, Missouri, says crews are prepared for a significant snowstorm expected to roll through the area between Saturday evening and Sunday. Crews began to pre-treat roads all over the city at 7 a.m. on Friday.

Once the storm arrives, city officials said the Snow Team will transition to 24/7 plowing and ice treatment operations. Crews are prepared to handle between 15 and 18 inches of snow.

City leaders indicated that the team, which is made up of more than 400 trained employees from multiple departments, is equipped to cover 103 plow routes that span 6,400 lane miles. More than 300 trucks are available as the team is committed to clearing roads quickly.

Crews noted that salt domes are completely stocked with 40,000 tons of salt, 8,000 tons of Ice Ban and 36,000 gallons of liquid magnesium chloride. There is also an additional 10,000 tons in reserve to ensure resources remain plentiful.

Due to the need for drivers to focus on road treatment, city officials said trash and recycling services will be delayed starting Monday. Bulky item pickup appointments scheduled for Jan. 6 and 7 have been canceled and will need to be rescheduled.

Crews said the snow removal plan is as follows:

• Primary and residential streets are plowed 24 hours per day until the roads are clear.
• All residential streets are plowed curb to curb instead of a “single ” as was the past practice.
• Aggressive pre-treating of all roads before storms.
• New blue salt, called “Ice Ban” (magnesium chloride), works better at lower temperatures than standard calcium chloride and is less harmful to the environment.
• Tandem plowing is used on wide, multi-lane, arterial streets with multiple trucks to efficiently clear streets on the first .
• Trash and recycling services are suspended during big storms to redirect resources to the Snow Team and reduce the number of other vehicles on the road.
• Plow tracking technology and digital plow route management software ensures ability, efficiency, and safety for all drivers.
• Added 50 trucks and 100 drivers to the fleet in the first year of the new plan with more drivers and trucks added each year.

For more information about the snow plan, click HERE.

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