Columbia Public Works will be bringing in a 17-member snowplow crew on Saturday morning at 5, due to anticipated snow across the entire 939 the Eagle listening area.
The National Weather Service (NWS) in St. Louis says snow will be coming from the north and the west. NWS St. Louis meteorologist Melissa Byrd tells 939 the Eagle that snow is expected to begin in the Columbia area at about 6 am, with one to two inches of snow expected.
Columbia Public Works spokesman John Ogan expects pavements to be below freezing at the onset tomorrow, leading to slick conditions. Public Works will be focusing initially on pretreating priority routes like Providence, the Business Loop and Grindstone Parkway. Once snow begins to fall, they will shift to plowing and treating priority routes. You’re being urged to slow down and to be patient.
Columbia Public Works says this month’s dry run to test snow plows for winter weather was successful. Public Works engineering and operations manager Richard Stone told 939 the Eagle News that day that winter weather preparation is year-round and that there are 1,458 lane miles in Columbia. The dry run was an opportunity to test snowplows and to give drivers a chance to rehearse snow routes ahead of the winter weather season. Mr. Stone told 939 the Eagle News that day that Columbia has hired 13 people in the street department in the past year. There are currently four vacancies and the street division has 45 full-time employees.
