A snowplow rodeo was held Thursday in the Heritage Park parking lot for city workers to prepare for the onset of winter weather.
“It kind of gets the guys in the mind of snow removal after a spring, summer and fall of street repairs,” said Assistance Superintendent of Streets Keven Schneider. “Now it’s time to start thinking about snowplowing.”
Around 35 city workers took part in the rodeo, driving snowplows through an obstacle course where they had to weave in-between cones, lowering the plow to knock off metal bars and avoid mailboxes. Schneider said the city has held the rodeo once a year for around 20 years.
“All season they have been driving around town without plows on, without spreaders on and that changes the whole dynamic of the truck,” said Schneider. “It kind of gets the feel back for what they’ll be expected to do this winter.”
The Missouri Department of Transportation is also preparing for winter weather. MoDOT will hold a statewide drill Nov. 5 for more than 3,500 of its employees.
“The annual drill helps to make sure we all know our roles during a storm, and we can do our jobs successfully,” said State Maintenance Engineer Beth Wright.
During the drill, MoDOT employees will react to a simulated forecast of significant snow for the entire state. The department’s emergency operations centers will activate and maintenance employees will be deployed to their trucks.
“One of the most valuable parts of the drill is to measure our snowplow circuits by driving routes we may have modified since the previous winter season. As we open new roads and lanes we must modify our snow removal plans.” said Wright. “It also allows our newest snow fighters one last opportunity to drive a snowplow over some of their proposed routes so they are aware of obstacles and obstructions that might be hidden in a storm by snow or ice such as curbs and raised islands.”
Motorists may notice increased numbers of MoDOT vehicles on state routes during the drill. In rural areas, crews will deploy after 8 a.m. In urban areas, the drill will not begin until after 9 a.m. Wright estimates that the exercise will take about six hours.