The snow storm approaching the Kansas City metro area could deliver the deepest blanket of white this year. The storm is prompting calls for people to stay off the streets Tuesday – when the heaviest snowfall is expected between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The prospect of further clogged highways and streets in and around Kansas City has brought pleas from both the Kansas Department of Transportation and the Missouri Department of Transportation.
"If you’re an employer and you can let your folks work from home, or just have them stay home, that is the smartest thing to do," said MoDOT spokesman Steve Porter. "We don’t want a repeat of that late February of last year where we had abandoned cars or cars towed off of interstates, hundreds of cars towed in that storm."
Porter said even the best plowing methods won’t work if highway clearing equipment is stuck in traffic jams.
Kansas City, Mo., Mayor Sly James held a news conference on Monday and made a similar request.
"We're encouraging people if they can possibly stay home to stay home," said James. "And we're having city employees come in because city employees are responsible for doing a lot of stuff in this city and we need to make sure that we have the full cadre of people on hand to get those jobs done."
According to James, 175 snow plows will be clearing primary and arterial routes, plus there will also be 65 more plows for residential areas. He says city crews clear 6,300 lane miles of roads each time it snows, which he described as "no small feat."