Write Up:

Knowing the time it takes to clear roads after a winter storm can help the department better analyze the costs associated with that work. MoDOT’s response to winter events provides good customer service for the traveling public while keeping costs as low as possible. These efforts result in reduced traffic delays due to winter events and, more importantly, safer travel during these events. 

In recent years, MoDOT has been more aggressive in messaging the public, urging them to travel only if necessary during winter events. This messaging is in the form of social media posts and media releases. The last few seasons have been especially challenging due to MoDOT’s maintenance function being understaffed by several hundred employees. For the 2022-2023 season MoDOT’s maintenance function was understaffed by nearly 1,000 employees. For this season, staffing levels have incrementally improved, but remain several hundred employees under the level needed to staff all plow trucks for two 12-hour shifts. The prolonged staffing shortages, coupled with a mild 2022-2023 winter, has also resulted in less experienced operators available with some drivers still needing to complete required on-the-job training. This information was communicated to the public, along with the anticipation that it will take longer to clear the roads following a winter event. The start of the 2023-2024 winter season has been fairly mild in terms of total winter precipitation, with only two accumulating events during the months of October through December. For the start of the 2023-2024 winter season,MoDOT’s time for meeting objectives for continuous operations routes was 2.5 hours and 2.7 hours for non-continuous routes. 

On average, MoDOT's winter operations have cost about $51 million per year over the last five years. MoDOT's cost for the 2022-2023 winter season was $31.7 million.  As of Dec. 31, 2023, MoDOT's cost for the 2023-2024 season is $5.7 million, which is approximately $2 million lower than the cost of the previous season at the same time.

Purpose of the Measure:

This measure tracks the amount of time needed to perform MoDOT’s snow and ice removal efforts. It also reviews the impacts of significant events and the measures taken to minimize these impacts.

Measurement and Data Collection:

For major highways and regionally significant routes, the objective is to restore them to a mostly clear condition as soon as possible after the storm has ended. MoDOT calls these “continuous operations” routes. State routes with lower traffic volumes should be opened to two-way traffic and treated with salt or abrasives at critical areas such as intersections, hills and curves. These are called “non-continuous operations” routes. After each winter event, maintenance personnel submit reports indicating how much time it took to meet the objectives for both route classifications. For significant events, the Regional Integrated Transportation Information System is used to determine traveler delays and the associated costs in order to determine the magnitude of the impacts of these significant winter events.