Write Up:

Knowing how long 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 motorists to travel only if required during winter events. This messaging is in the form of social media posts and media releases. The last two 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, several hundred more than the previous season. This information was communicated to the public along with the anticipation that it will take longer to clear the roads following a winter event. Overall, the 2022-2023 winter season was fairly mild in terms of total winter precipitation. However, there were a few significant weather events involving frozen precipitation and extremely low temperatures that extended the time to clear the roads after these storms. Even though these events were challenging and required shifting and sharing of resources statewide, MoDOT's overall time to meet winter objectives decreased from the previous season. For the 2022-2023 winter season MoDOT’s time for meeting objectives for continuous operations routes was 5.9 hours and 7.3 hours for non-continuous routes, representing a 29% and 23% improvement from the previous season, respectively. 

On average, winter operations have cost the department roughly $51 million per year over the last five years. As of April 30, 2023, MoDOT's cost for the 2022-2023 winter season was $31.7 million.

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.