KANSAS CITY, KAN. ----- With a large snowstorm on the way, the Unified Government has made several announcements about Tuesday's services.
Below is a lot of information worth reading.
The National Weather Service has announced a Winter Storm Warning for the greater Kansas City area beginning Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 6 a.m. through Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 9 a.m., with heaviest snowfall between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday. The storm is expected to bring 6-10 inches of snow, along with east/northeast winds between 10-25 miles per hour, which may create whiteout conditions.
The Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Ks. urges residents to take precautions during this snow event and avoid driving in these hazardous conditions. In an effort to expedite snow removal, residents are advised that parking cars off-street during snow plow operations greatly enhances the ability of snow plows to remove snow, especially in cul-de-sacs and dead end streets.
Also, following these tips can help ensure your safety:
- Stay back at least 50’ from the rear of a plow truck so the driver can see you. If you cannot see the motorist’s mirrors, the driver cannot see you.
- Park your vehicles in your driveway whenever possible.
- Don’t allow your vehicles to hang out into the street.
- Avoid passing or driving beside plow trucks. Some trucks are capable of plowing multiple lanes at one time.
- Avoid placing snow from your driveway back into the street. Less snow will be pushed into your driveway by passing plows.
- Remove portable basketball goals and any other structures from the street. This will enable snow plows to reach the curb and eliminate possible damage to the truck or portable structures.
- Maintain trimmed tree branches along the street.
- Property owners are responsible for maintenance of the sidewalks adjacent to their property. We ask that both business and residential owners maintain their sidewalks for safe pedestrian travel.
The Unified Government Public Works Department is responsible for the maintenance and snow removal for approximately 1,700 center lane miles of roadway. To keep traffic moving throughout the City during a winter weather event, the snow plan prioritizes plowing into three types of snow routes: Hot routes, secondary routes and residential routes.
Crews will plow and treat primary “hot” routes and continue with collector “secondary” routes to allow residents the safest passage to work, school or other destinations. Once these streets have been completed then crews will begin plowing and treating neighborhood routes. Depending on severity and timing of the storms, it may be necessary for crews to address the “hot” and “secondary” routes more than once before beginning neighborhoods.
Residents should make plans to be inside tomorrow, including refilling any necessary medications today.
The Wyandotte County District Court and all District Court Offices will be closed on Tuesday, February 4th. However, Kansas City, Kansas Municipal Court will be open for regular court docket on Tuesday.
Emergency Management will be activated and personnel representing key City and County departments, as well as BPU, will be present and working together to monitor the event and coordinate activities among departments providing snow and ice removal and emergency responders from the Police and Fire departments.
In preparation for the winter storm, trash and recycling services will began an hour early tomorrow at 6:00 a.m.
Residents wanting to report slick spots or missed streets to the City’s 311 Call Center should wait until the next business day after snow has stopped falling. While crews are running assigned snow routes, it is assumed that all streets are slick. To report a non-emergency snow or ice concern, please use the city’s online reporting system at snowcomplaints@wycokck.org or call 573-8307. Call 911 if you have police, fire or medical emergency. Requests for emergency snow and ice removal will be directed by emergency service personnel.
