Kansas City leaders provide update as dangerous winter weather continues Sunday afternoon

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Three hundred snow plow trucks are out on Kansas City, Missouri streets Sunday as the snowfall continues to cover roadways across the 6,400 lane miles they must address.

The snow and ice are not new to Kansas Citians but what is new this year according to Mayor Quinton Lucas is the collaboration put in with other city departments to clear as much as they can, as safely as they can.

Pretreating the roads again will not happen until all the snow stops falling. City Manager Brian Platt said laying down more salt on the streets will not start until Sunday night or Monday morning at this time.

“We’re not seeing any widespread issues with anything, just the volume of snow, and just pushing it off the streets,” he said.

The accumulation of snow has caused city-wide cancellations for residents.

Trash services are canceled on Monday or Tuesday
- People will be allowed to have two extra bags of trash at the next available time next week.
City Hall will be closed on Monday and Tuesday
- Kansas City Municipal Court hearings will be virtual
- Walk-in docket will be cancelled
City planning inspections will cancelled
- People can use the ComKC App to address rescheduling

“We hit every neighborhood at the same time as quickly as we possibly can,” said Platt. “We’ve got a lot of plows in every single neighborhood.”

Public Works Director Michael Shaw said all roadways have been plowed or pre-treated since Friday morning at least once.

There is a real-time plow tracking map available at KCMO.gov/snow.

“With the volume of snow, it’s going to take a little longer than typical that we do it but every street will be plowed, every street will be cleared, that’s what we do,” said Shaw. “It’s not even an option.”

Eight community centers are still open as warming stations and KCATA busses are being utilized as warming stations as well. The emergency cold weather shelter has been activated for the unhoused community with 400 beds available through Hope Faith.

Lucas said Kansas City International Airport staff have been working to ensure runways are clear, the taxiways are addressed, and the airport is operational. Restaurants and other services inside KCI have stayed open for extra hours according to Lucas.

“Anyone who has been up there that has flights knows that many flights are canceled, we encourage you to stay in touch with your airlines to look to see the future for your flight,” he said.

City leaders ask the public to have patience as the storm evolves into Sunday evening and the 400 drivers hit the roads again and again.

“We still have snow falling, we have incredibly cold and frigid temperatures, and we have real human beings who are driving our plows,” he said. “At all of our different levels, that requires us to make sure that they are taken care of, that they are getting sufficient breaks, and make sure that we have adequate staffing to address all the issues.”

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