ST. LOUIS — A day after winter weather moved through the St. Louis area, road conditions were still on the mend. It’s a testimony to what impact several inches of snow has on our roadways.
All jurisdictions were working on clearing the snow off the streets and roadways. But while the snow fell on Thursday, accidents continued Friday.
At Interstate 70 and Bermuda, Jonathan Andrus was involved in an accident Friday morning.
“A vehicle spun out in front of me and came across my lane of traffic,” said Andrus. “I was just about to hit the driver on the driver’s side door. Managed to swerve out of the way, but I clipped their rear bumper and the impact shoved me off onto the side of the road.”
The tow truck driver hauling Adrus’ car away was Dan Williams, who works for Express Towing.
“We’re getting about 70 calls every 30 minutes, so we’re up about 1,000 percent,” said Williams.
Streets in downtown St. Louis were relatively clear. Some snowpack was still visible on streets in Soulard.
Soulard resident Pat Bolden said, “I would appreciate a plow. I do understand if they do it would probably just get every packed in on the sides, but at least the street would be cleared. It would be easier to get out.”
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones office released this statement, late Friday afternoon:
“Keeping roads safe has remained the Streets’ department’s top priority throughout this winter storm amid historic levels of snow, sleet, and rain. Crews will have touched more than 1,000 streets by tomorrow morning and spread 3,050 tons of salt on roads since Tuesday night.
Crews of 25 drivers per 12-hour shifts since Tuesday night have been treating and clearing main arteries across the city. The halt in precipitation Thursday evening gave crews the opportunity to shift exclusively to plowing through the evening, going into overdrive to help ensure 450 arterials and secondary routes are cleared and safe as possible for a.m. and p.m. rush hour.
The Streets Department has assessed current conditions on main arteries, and unlike in previous years, will begin working to clear residential streets where possible due to historic levels of accumulation. Narrower streets, combined with street parking, limit ability to plow streets and to avoid property damage. Plows will focus on residential streets wide enough to accommodate current equipment and avoid damage to private property. This work is being done in conjunction with the Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department.”
RELATED: St. Louisans dig out after snowstorm
In St. Louis County, Alexander Giardina was busy with a shovel along Page in Overland.
Giardina said, “I decided to leave my car along the side of the road and got snowed in, so I’m digging it out.”
5 On Your Side asked how long he’d been at it.
“Probably 30 minutes,” he said. “I’m working up a sweat.”
Right across the street, Tray Lowery was shoveling a driveway the size of a parking lot at a business owned by his wife and his sister.
Lowery said, “Yeah, and I still got this whole half to do. I’m just trying to make sure it’s good enough they can get inside the parking lot and get back out, safely.”
If you get out this weekend, make sure you have windshield wiper fluid in your car. You’re going to need it.