By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – The Missouri Department of Transportation has bought 200 bigger snowplows to help clear highways more quickly this winter.
The trucks are equpped with wider blades that can clear a traffic lane in one pass, instead of two. MO-DOT will buy more of the plows as older equipment is replaced.
Also, for the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, the agency has also bought wider plows that can be attached to standard trucks.
And officials will start using a new computer system this winter that guides the dropping of road salt, a move that's expected to save the agency $2 million a year. ON average, MO-DOT puts down 246,000 tons of road salt each year.