City continues to dig out after blizzard

City Communications Office
City of Kansas City, Mo.
www.kcmo.org

City of Kansas City, Mo., snow removal crews assigned to primary and arterial streets made considerable progress overnight, after snow stopped falling. As of this morning, most primary and arterial routes have tight snowpack and some exposed pavement. With heavy accumulations removed, the snowpack and ice will be salted in an attempt to break up the snowpack.

Residential snow routes have deep snow as a result of heavy snow totals and drifting. Recognizing that the deep snow will challenge smaller snowplows assigned to residential snow routes, larger snowplows will be diverted to residential areas as possible today.

The City has approximately 250 snowplows working in response to the winter storm.

Motorists are asked to minimize travel during this cleanup effort in order to allow snow removal crews and emergency responders greater ability to perform duties.

Should motorist venture out onto City streets, they are advised to drive with extreme caution as high winds forecast for today will likely create drifting in areas that were previously cleared.

The City’s Emergency Operations Center remains activated at a level two and personnel representing key City departments are present and working together to monitor the event and coordinate activities

Phases I and II of the City’s Snow Ordinance remain in effect. As outlined in the Snow Ordinance, motorists parked on assigned Emergency Snow Routes face the possibility of vehicles being ticketed or towed. Vehicles without adequate tire tread that get stuck on a major thoroughfare can also be ticketed.

In residential areas, motorists are asked to park vehicles off-street if possible. If a vehicle must park on-street, the following parking practice is being requested:

-On streets that run north/south, please park on the west side of the street.
-On streets that run east/west, please park on the north side of the street.

Residents wanting to report slick spots or missed streets are advised that while crews continue to run snow routes today, it is assumed that all streets are slick. Only after all snow routes have been run does the City’s 3-1-1 Action Center accept requests for slick spots and missed streets. It is anticipated that this will be no earlier than Thursday afternoon. For updates, visit www.kcmo.org .

The City has been informed that KCP&L crews are on standby alert and additional restoration materials have been staged at various locations throughout their service territory. KCP&L crews have managed to limit the storm’s impact on power outages, as few Kansas City residential and business customers experienced lost power during Tuesday’s blizzard conditions.

Requests for removal of tree limbs from the rights-of-way should be directed to the City's 3-1-1 Action Center, at 311 or 816-513-1313. The 3-1-1 Action Center will open at 8:30 a.m. this morning.

Media inquiries about ice and snow removal should be directed to Dennis Gagnon, public information officer for the Public Works Department, 816-513-2659.