HAYS, Kan. (KSNW) – Winter weather slammed parts of northwest Kansas, making road conditions a concern for many.
Roadways have been snow-packed and icy much of the day. At times, the road was not visible. The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) crews are out working to get the roads back to safe traveling conditions.
KDOT began preparing for the storm early Sunday morning, treating roads with brine and rock salt.
But by Monday morning, 20 plows were running nonstop clearing roadways.
KDOT area officials say it is the first major snowstorm of the season.
Currently, the department has a full staff working 12-hour shifts, hoping to improve road conditions by this evening.
“As long as we get the pavement chemically wet and then throughout the day, it will dry out and so we’re expecting pretty decent conditions,” said Kevin Zimmer, District 3 Area 3 KDOT Engineer.
Crews are expected to work well into the evening hours, and as roads begin to clear, KDOT will treat them again with brine, salt, sand, or a combination of those elements to speed up the deicing process.
The department expects road conditions to be fairly clear into the nighttime hours, but officials are still warning drivers to be cautious and stay alert.
“It may look like the road is cleared, but you never know, there could be slick spots on bridges, around curves such as that. As you’re driving out there again, just give each other some distance and slow down,” said Zimmer.
For more information on road conditions, click here.
