ST. LOUIS — Traffic issues, especially in the St. Charles area, continued into the night Monday after MoDOT was unable to pretreat roads.
MoDOT crews were out salting the roads as the snow began to fall Monday morning in hopes of making the evening commute go a little smoother. MoDOT said it couldn’t pretreat the roads because the rain would just wash the treatment away.
The heaviest traveled roads were treated first, followed by secondary roads, then bridges and overpasses were cleared.
The concern now is melting and refreezing. That could cause major issues for drivers Monday night.
"Mainly the roads have been wet but the temperatures are dropping so we're getting some slick spots on bridges things like that," said Bob Becker, a District Maintenance Engineer for MoDOT. "Roads are slushing before it melts so there are occasional slick spots so that's the biggest concern right now."
The slick roads were to blame for numerous accidents in both the county and city.
“Every snowstorm is different or freezing rain whatever storm and I’m not really sure which one this is yet with the refreeze,” St. Louis Streets Commissioner Kent Flake said.
Crews will continue to monitor the changing forecast and treat the roads as needed.
As of 5 p.m., the Missouri State Highway Patrol troop that handles most of the St. Louis area said it had responded to more than 300 calls, including 124 crashes.
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