Boone County News Release
For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Michele Hall, Boone County Commission Administrative Coordinator
Phone: (573) 886-4312
Email: mhall@boonecountymo.org
Boone County Public Works Prepares for Winter Weather
December 28, 2011
Boone County Public Works is hard at work making sure everything is ready for the next winter weather event of the season.
Equipped with 15 tandem-axle dump trucks with plows/spreaders, 5 one-ton and smaller pickup trucks with plows/spreaders, 8 motor graders and 3000 tons of salt, rock chips, and manufactured sand which are mixed as needed for the particular winter weather conditions, Public Works is ready to work on improving the conditions on over 800 miles of Boone County roadways during winter weather. Snow and salt routes for the county are mapped out before the first snowflake falls in order to get the more traveled roads cleared as quickly as possible. Maps for both routes are available on the Boone County Public Works website, www.showmeboone.com/pw. As plows and spreaders move to subdivision roads, residents can help to make the procedure both more effective and more efficient by not parking vehicles on the streets and instead parking in driveways.
It is important to remember that the over 800 miles that Public Works is responsible for does not include all roads in Boone County. “When it starts to snow and the roads start getting problematic, we get a lot of phone calls about roads all throughout the county. Some of them are ours to take care of, but some are the responsibility of either the state, the cities or, in the case of private roads, the owner,” says Public Works Supervisor, Greg Edington. In most instances, roads in unincorporated areas and those not named with numbers or letters are the responsibility of Boone County Public Works. Roads that are named with either a number or a letter, such as Highway 63 or AC, are the responsibility of the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODoT). Roads within city limits are the responsibility of that city. Roads marked with white street signs are private roads and the responsibility of the owner. Edington stated that, while there are a few exceptions to these rules, identifying roads in this way will greatly help residents to know the right entity to contact in regard to specific roads.
Each year, the drivers and operators at Boone County Public Works take an entire day as a “snow dry run.” This full-day exercise, already completed for this year, consists of driving the snow routes as designated and testing all of the equipment to make sure everything is in working order. At this time, other winter weather equipment, such as tire chains and spare blades, are inventoried so that when the need arises, Boone County Public Works is prepared.
The Department of Public Works is located on Highway 63 South in Columbia, MO. This department is responsible for the maintenance for all public highways, roads, bridges and culverts in Boone County. These include those roads that are in the unincorporated areas of Boone County and are not otherwise cared for by the State of Missouri. Public Works focuses on providing the right treatment for the right road at the right time. For more information, please visit their website at http://www.showmeboone.com/PW/ or call (573) 449-8515.
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