Month: January 2017

Snow was falling in Wyandotte County about 9 p.m. Jan. 4.

Wyandotte County is under a winter weather advisory through 9 a.m. Jan. 5.

From two to four inches of snow are possible, according to the National Weather Service.

Tonight’s low will be 12 degrees, the weather service said.

State and local road crews have been pretreating bridges and overpasses. A salt and sand mix is usually used once the snow falls. However, the salt will not be effective in the very low temperatures tonight, according to KDOT.

In Kansas City, Kan., road crews will treat primary routes first, then continue with the collector routes, according to information from the UG. After those streets are completed, crews begin treating neighborhood routes, the UG information stated. The UG has 1,700 miles of roads to clear, and has about 65 trucks on the roads around the clock during storms, according to UG information. Crews work 16-hour shifts.

In northeast Kansas, the Kansas Department of Transportation crews have pre-treated bridges and elevated areas earlier today and were waiting to see the actual snow that is falling.

Snowplow crews will plow with half-inch accumulation or more, and will treat with salt, or a salt-sand mix in rural areas, as needed throughout the overnight and into the early morning hours of Thursday, a KDOT spokesman stated.

Heavier treating is often done closer to the morning rush hour as salt will be ineffective during the overnight hours because of the brutal cold mid-teen temperatures, the KDOT spokesman said.

KDOT has 131 snowplows in the day and 129 in the nighttime for the region, with about 156 people on the day shift and 152 on the night shift, according to the spokesman.

Motorists who are stranded may call for help on their cell phones. If they are on an interstate, U.S. or Kansas highway, they may call *47 for help. If they’re on the Kansas Turnpike, they can call *KTA (582).

If motorists can’t reach these numbers, they may call 911. The Kansas Highway Patrol Motorist Assist Program, operating on the Kansas City highways, may send a service vehicle to help.

Highway conditions and weather information is at telephone 511 or 1-866-511-KDOT.

For bus service on Thursday, RideKC has announced it plans to provide bus service. Bus customers are asked to check www.RideKC.org frequently for updates about any delays. The Regional Call Center will open at 5 a.m. Thursday morning, one hour early, and customers may call 816-221-0660 until 7 p.m. to help plan a trip.