Last year, the Public Works Department spent $25,000 on overtime labor to keep winter snow under control, Public Works Department spokesman Steven Sapp said. Keeping roads safe during the winter season is a group effort for MU, Boone County, the city and the Missouri Department of Transportation.
####Before the snow
The first step in preparing roads for winter weather is determining the type of precipitation involved, Sapp said. Pretreatment is used if the precipitation is forecasted to start as snow or sleet.
The Public Works Department uses a saline solution blended with beet juice to prevent snow and ice from bonding with the road. Beet juice is added because it is a natural deicer and contains sugars that make the solution stick better to the road.
On campus, salt pellets are used as a pretreatment. Director of Landscape Services Pete Millier said Campus Facilities doesn’t have the space to make a brine, so solid pellets are used and create a solution when wet weather hits.
####Into the storm
As soon as snow starts falling, plows begin clearing roads. Plows from Columbia, Boone County, MU, the Missouri Department of Transportation and Public Works share responsibility for clearing the streets.
City plows begin with first- and second-priority streets, which are determined by street classification and the Public Works Department.
Sapp compared the city’s first priority streets to the main arteries of the human body. Usually, he said, first-priority streets are long and lead to educational and commercial centers. Sapp said second-priority streets “go deeper into the neighborhood,” prioritizing bus routes and roads surrounding schools and hospitals.
The university and all the other parties involved in clearing the roads work until the job is done. Millier said MU takes initiative to plow some city streets because students need them to get around campus.
“It doesn’t do us much good to have campus clear if you can’t get here, so we try to work together,” Millier said.
For snow storms over 4 inches, city crews work overtime hours until priority and residential streets are cleared. If the snow is less than 4 inches, city crews still work overtime to clear first- and second-priority streets and clear residential streets during regular working areas.
####After the snow
Work doesn’t stop just because snow does. The city continues to work with the other agencies until snow is removed from the streets, Sapp said.
Some roads may have to wait longer to be cleared. Culs-de-sac and dead ends present a challenge for plows because there is nowhere to push the snow without blocking driveways, mailboxes and fire hydrants. There are 1,100 culs-de-sac in Columbia, and each takes a plow about 15 minutes to complete, according to the city’s website.
After a storm, more road salt is spread to keep roads from getting icy. Columbia stores 5,000 tons of road salt at the LeRoy Anderson Salt Dome on Big Bear Boulevard and uses about 3,000 tons each winter, Sapp said. The salt, which is mined in Kansas, costs $65 per ton including transportation costs, Sapp said.
MU pays $80 to $85 per ton for its salt, Millier said. The university is in its third and final year of a contract and is considering joining a cooperative purchasing agreement with the city to keep prices down.
The university has a salt storage unit on campus, which holds only 300 tons of the 400 to 500 tons used in one winter, Millier said. When more salt is needed, Campus Facilities buys it directly from the supplier.
As a general rule, Campus Facilities uses 200 pounds of salt on each mile of road.
“Our goal is to do the best possible job that we can with the resources we have … and be totally focused on keeping people safe,” Millier said.
