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 rate 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 pushes and media releases.  One possible positive impact from the ongoing pandemic is that the ability for remote work for millions has been realized and will hopefully aid in minimizing traffic volumes during inclement weather.          

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

The 2020-2021 winter season has been very mild which has been a welcomed gift from mother nature as preparation for this season has been very challenging due to the ongoing pandemic.  Keeping employees safe while responding to winter operations has been the utmost concern.  Several best management practices have been developed and implemented to assure that employees are safe from the COVID-19 virus.  Recruiting and training have been the biggest challenges during this pandemic as social distancing and overall concern with staying safe has greatly limited the availability of plow operators and has greatly hindered MoDOT's ability to train the plow operators that are successfully recruited.  The only statewide event that occurred began the last hours of New Year's Eve, so it was not included in this report as it did not end until 2021.  With limited winter events, very little can be derived from the current average time to meet MoDOT’s objective for continuous operations routes which was 5.1 hours and 6.3 hours for non-continuous routes through December 31, 2020.

On average, winter operations cost about $43 million per year. MoDOT expended $4.9 million through 12/31/2020.

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.