MoDot Looking to Avoid Another Fiasco, Doubles Salt Output on Roads

A winter storm that hit the Wentzville-area Monday morning is expected to drop two to four inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service has the bi-state area, including , under a winter weather advisory. The forecast is calling for one to two inches Monday morning and another inch or two later that evening.

Snowfall is expected to begin around sunrise Monday morning with the heaviest amount of precipitation expected during the afternoon.

The storm is expected to leave the area late Monday night as it begins to mix with light freezing drizzle.

But Kara Price, a spokesperson for the  (MoDOT), told Patch that crews are now expecting the winter storm to run through Tuesday morning's rush hour. They have been pretreating the roads since Saturday night in anticipation of the storm, and they are ready for Monday evening rush hour and Tuesday morning.

"We expect tomorrow the storm to last through rush hour until about 10 a.m.," she said. "Right now and through the evening rush hour might just be wet, but that can change very quickly into the overnight hours and especially into the early morning."

Price advised drivers to leave for work a little later Tuesday morning if possible.

"We'll be putting down double the amount of salt for the evening (Monday) and tomorrow morning's rush hour, to avoid the situation like we had a month ago where trucks got stuck in the traffic," Price said."So if there is any refreezing, it will help melt that."

Price said that so far Monday the pavement temperatures have stayed just above freezing and that's helped much of Monday's accumulation melt on roadways."

"It's making the pavement wet, so luckily there isn't a whole lot of snow to plow, but we are still treating roads to prevent slickness," Price explained. "As we get into the overnight hours, temperatures will drop and roads will freeze. Bridges and ramps are the major concerns as we go into the evening."

Price said full crews of more than 400 employees running 200 trucks are working 12-hour shifts around the clock.

Drivers are advised to check road conditions by visiting the MoDOT website or calling its hotline at 888-275-6636. 

To help make your morning drive as efficient as possible, Wentzville Patch now allows its readers a live view of traffic conditions via Mapquest. To view the feature, CLICK HERE.