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Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
MSHP reports no injuries on highways following Wednesday snow
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Plows on Missouri highways have been hard at work since snow started falling. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said they're not seeing near as many slide-offs, crashes Wednesday as they have in recent storms. The latest check of the Missouri Department of Transportation's Traveler Information Map shows their roads in the Kansas city metro area ranging from mostly clear to clear. 'Thankfully, this storm hasn't had the same impact as what we've seen in the last couple of storms,' Cpl. Justin Ewing said. 'We've still had a good number of calls, definitely higher than our average day.' Lighter snow gives Kansas crews a jump on clearing roads Corporal Justin Ewing with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said they've responded to more than 45 calls, including 29 stranded drivers and 14 crashes. 'Which has been much lower than our previous storms. So, people have been taking it slow. We've seeing drivers taking correct caution as they're out on the roads,' Ewing said. 'So, thankfully those calls for services have been lower. And thankfully now that the snow is tapering off it seems like the roads are getting cleared faster.' MSHP said no injuries have been reported as of 2:00 p.m. Wednesday. When the blizzard hit KC in January, Ewing said by the first night, Troopers received close to 100 calls for service, which included a lot more crashes, some with injuries. 'Thankfully the conditions, the snow wasn't as heavy, we didn't have that accumulation of ice before the storm,' Ewing said. 'So, all those factors made this storm less significant. Still, early this morning we had some treacherous roadways people had to navigate, but thankfully, we haven't had the traffic impacts that we had in other storms.' Ewing said as crews clear roads, drivers should use caution, especially in known problem areas, like ramps, bridges and overpasses. Brooke Rohlfing with MoDOT echoed Ewings advice. 'Use extra caution on our bridges, overpasses, ramps,' Rohlphing said. 'Anything that's elevated off the ground tends to get a little bit colder, slicker.' She said plows hit the ground running when snow started falling and they haven't stop. 'We start with our majors, and I think we're looking pretty good right now, partially covered on those. Then move onto our secondary routes into this evening and tomorrow,' she said. They have 3,000 operators statewide. She said any truck available in Kansas City was running. They also called in crews from different area districts to help, like Jefferson City and St. Joe. Rohlfing said as snow clears, they're also treating roads again to combat cold temperatures. 'Watch out for our crews, they're going to continue to be out there,' Rohlfing said. 'Even when you think that something looks clear, it's also important to adjust your speed it could still be slick out there.' FOX4 Newsletters: Sign up for daily forecasts and Joe's Weather Blog in your inbox Rohlfing said crews will continue working until roads are clear. If you find yourself stuck on the side of the highway, Ewing reminds people to stay in your vehicle, buckle up — and call for help. The emergency number contacting The Missouri State Highway Patrol is *55. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
MoDOT answers questions about Wednesday weather prep
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The freezing drizzle and mist created problems for many drivers Wednesday morning. A dozen different areas of highways were closed throughout the Kansas City metro at some point. Missouri Department of Transportation Senior Communications Specialist Brooke Rohlfing says I-470 westbound at I-49 was closed for 5 to 6 hours. She says a good amount of their crews were on the Grandview Triangle for an extended period of time in the morning. 'They just continue to stay there and continue to work as they were needed,' she said in an interview with FOX4 Wednesday afternoon. As FOX4 drove on 71 Highway we could see a number of cars on the shoulder. One was even facing the wrong direction as we drove northbound. Rohlfing added that the Downtown Loop was another spot where crews spent a lot of time. There was a wreck at 71 Highway and 19th Street just after 4 a.m. MAP: Traffic and road conditions across the Kansas City metro 'So, we've actually been planning for this for a few days because you just never know with temperatures like this what your precipitation's going to be like,' Rohlfing said when asked if the weather event caught her crews off guard. 'So, our crews were on call. They knew. We kind of had a plan in place, and we were ready to begin treating at midnight ahead of some of the precipitation.' Rohlfing said MoDOT crews pre-treated with salt. 'I work with special needs people, but I also do DoorDash,' Grandview, MO resident Eyvori Falls said when asked what she did for a living. 'I was DoorDashing this morning.' Despite MoDOT's work before the precipitation, Falls said the roads were extremely bad. 'I saw about over 20 cars turned around going from the highway from up north to Grandview,' she continued. 'They texted us at six in the morning and told us they were going to cancel school,' Kansas City Public Schools Teacher Lamarco Aikens said. 'It's an AMI day. We're going to do online learning, so I'm like, 'Okay. Cool.'' Aikens is a PE Teacher, so when the district has an Alternative Method of Instruction Day, he works for Instacart. View the latest Weather Alerts in the Kansas City region on FOX4 'No, my all-wheel drive was pretty cool out here,' Aikens said when asked if he slid at all. 'But if you got a car, you're going to be really slipping out here, so be careful.' Kansas Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Delaney Tholen says crews west of State Line first treated their highways and interstates with salt brine, and then they treated them with salt. 'Salt brine, or saltwater, is often applied before salt to help the salt work faster,' she said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
