St. Louis officials say they are happy with the city’s response to early snowfall but have plans for further improvements.
Just over a week after Mayor Cara Spencer launched a new winter weather response plan, St. Louis saw record-breaking snow and cold.
“The weather, of course, was extremely early this year, but the timing couldn't have been better,” Spencer said.
Snow response was a key campaign point for Spencer after a snow and ice storm last January, during former Mayor Tishaura Jones’ administration, made it extremely difficult to travel through the city.
The new response includes “Code Blue” activation, which adds extra emergency shelter beds for unhoused individuals during winter weather. There are currently an extra 340 beds on top of the 400 that are typically available. Code Blue will remain in effect through 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The plan also established a group of department leaders who have met every day since Nov. 26 to discuss a response to issues caused by the weather.
The Missouri Department of Transportation has been represented in the meetings, Spencer said. MoDOT officials said they failed to pretreat roads ahead of Monday’s snow, leading to significant traffic gridlock and several crashes on area highways.
St. Louis Streets Director James A. Jackson said the city had to wait for MoDOT to catch up since the state agency uses a different street-clearing strategy and has a wider area to cover.
“The method and the strategies that they utilize have been beneficial to them,” Jackson said. “I would not criticize their strategy at all.”
Spencer acknowledged that MoDOT has had “some issues,” but both she and Jackson said the city’s separate response was successful.
Jackson said his staff was working around the clock, dispensing 92,000 gallons of brine and 2,160 tons of salt on the roads. He said the city has a new team in charge of quality control after roads have been treated.
St. Louis also has a new salt bank where neighborhood associations can get salt for their sidewalks and streets free of charge.
Despite the successes, Jackson said there are areas to improve, including updating snow routes. Additionally, he said he plans to involve the community in plans to clear more side streets.
In October, Spencer discussed using the city’s four new smaller snowplows to clear side streets on a case-by-case basis — but she said Thursday there is no concrete plan yet for how this would be carried out.
“We did get a lot of complaints, especially neighborhoods that have hills and have smaller roads, Soulard being one,” Spencer said. “It’ll be a longer conversation rather than having something for you today.”
She said residents would have to cooperate with parking regulations so plows could fit down the narrow streets.
