Kansas City snow crews are preparing for another winter storm expected to arrive early Thursday morning, March 10. Crews will pre-treat roads with salt starting Wednesday evening and will be prepared to start snow plowing operations late Wednesday night into Thursday.
Trash and recycling collection will be suspended on Thursday and Friday so these drivers are available to plow snow. Specifically, this means no trash or recycling pickup on Thursday, March 10, and Friday, March 11. Residents with Thursday or Friday trash pickup days will be allowed to place four bags out next week. Curbside recycling is unlimited.
Additionally, all Municipal Court hearings will switch to virtual hearings for all cases, including domestic violence cases. To attend a virtual hearing go to www.kcmo.gov/court and click Virtual Hearings.
All drivers are reminded to exercise caution, especially around snowplow operators, allow extra travel time, and park off-street where possible, or on the north and west sides of neighborhood streets. Parking cars on only one side of residential streets will help plows clear your streets faster and more completely. Please avoid parking on streets where there are streetcar tracks, or along corridors with frequent transit service, if other parking options exist.
City Hall will conduct normal business virtually on Thursday, although the regular council meeting will still be open to the public.
The City will enact its extreme weather plan to protect houseless residents when the daytime high is below 32 degrees, or the overnight low is less than 20 degrees. The forecast calls for such conditions starting Thursday, March 10, through Sunday, March 13, at which point the overnight overflow center will be used when shelters are full. In addition, two warming buses will be in service during the day, one managed by Hope Faith and one spare KCI airport shuttle bus. The City’s ten Community Centers will also double as warming centers during business hours. Visit www.kcmo.gov/cold for more information.
During snowstorms, updates are posted on KCMO.gov/snow, our snow operations page, and on Twitter.
The City has strategically upgraded its snow operations plan to include:
- Adding 50 additional vehicles and 100 additional drivers to the snow removal operation
- Proactive pretreatment of roads in advance of snow and ice events
- Instituting a more aggressive approach to snow removal on residential streets with overnight shifts and curb to curb snow removal
- Plowing multi-lane arterial streets with multiple trucks working in tandem to make sure the street is fully cleared on the first pass
- Using new technology to improve operations including turn by turn and GPS navigation of plow routes
- Deploying “ice ban”, a new type of blue salt that works in lower temperatures and is far less corrosive to vehicles
- Improving communication and coordination during snow operations
300 snow removal vehicles will be out 24 hours a day until the streets are fully cleared.
