MODOT preparing for more winter weather on the roadways

CAPE GIRARDEAU Mo. (KBSI) – Roadway crews are still cleaning up the mess from the weather this past weekend and now in preparation for more winter weather to come this weekend. 

The Missouri Department of Transportation has 1500 salt trucks ready to go for the roadways to make sure the roads are as drivable as possible. 

Missouri has experienced some weather damage this past weekend such as snow, ice, trees falling, and powerlines down. They are calling in crews from all over Missouri to have all hands-on deck for anything to come this weekend.

“It’s been a rough week,” said Croarkin. 

Mark Croarkin is the Southeast District Engineer for Missouri Department of Transportation. He says the first priority is clearing the Interstate of any snow and ice for drivers. 

After opening the major roadways, they work hard on clearing and opening as many roads as possible. 

“You might not realize how hard the crews have been working. We’ve been on continual 12 hour shifts from last Saturday night, through now,” said Croarkin. 

Workers from all over Missouri are helping each other throughout the entire state as they work hard to keep Missouri citizens up and running like normal. Some workers still don’t even have power themselves. 

“We sent our staff to go help in Saint Louis and get those roads open as well. So they’ve been working tirelessly. we’re just like everybody else, you know, we’ve had some power outages. We’ve had some crew members, we’ve had some supervisors that have been without electricity since Sunday, but they still come in and drive a truck,” said Croarkin.

Croarkin sent his crew home early today to be able to rest and be ready for any weather that comes our way tonight. 

MODOT is encouraging everyone to stay off the roads. If you have to be on roadways, Missouri Department of Transportation has got salt stocked up to help give cars traction on the roads. 

“We still have plenty of salt in the Cape Girardeau building. this salt actually treated a little bit with some chemicals that help it stick and melt a little bit better,” said Croarkin. 

The Missouri Department of Transportation is advising if you see a salt truck on the roadways to remain back giving and not get too close.