'It's a slow process'

Road crews continue to battle volume of snow

"We got this snowfall in a 24-hour period, but it will take us several days to get the streets back to normal."

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DJ Feelgood of Power 92 Jams keeps the party rockin'.

For a typical storm, Jefferson City Parking and Streets Director Britt Smith said, crews work probably two days after it gets through and they're done.

This time, Smith said they're looking at working for several days, especially with the cold weather hanging around.

"Even when this melts, we're going to have inlets clogged by snow," he said. "We'll be working in the downtown area to take snow out Friday and that will mean intermittent closures. Then we'll work at intersections, and we'll have to continue to salt. It's a slow process."

"We're trying to widen out where we can," Smith added. "We have plowed some people's driveways closed, and we're trying to minimize the impact of that. By and large, people have been very understanding. We hear thank-yous from some of the citizens as we pass by their streets so that helps the guys out driving."

Out on Cole County roads, public works director Larry Benz said they are trying to move snow from mail boxes so mail can be delivered and widening roads as much as possible.

"The sunlight helps some; where we've got pavement showing, it's melting and clearing," he said. "We get road graders in some subdivisions and then get Bobcats to make sure we open driveways so we don't cover them up again."

Benz said they are looking at 26 hours overtime for each of the drivers that have been working during this storm. So the total of what this storm will cost the county is still being put together.

"It's been frustrating for us and landowners as to where to put all the snow," he said.

Emergency

operations center closes

Jefferson City and Cole County ceased operation of the emergency operations center Thursday morning. The center was activated Tuesday to provide city and county officials with an opportunity to share timely information during the inclement weather.

The Jefferson City community development department has the following updates:

Streets

City residential streets have been made passable. Crews will continue to work in the residential areas, widening where possible to minimize the impact to parking and driveway access.

Alleys

Now that streets are passable, crews will begin clearing alleys.

Downtown sidewalks

Downtown sidewalks continue to be cleared. Snow hauling operations to clear parking lanes in the downtown business district will begin today. Expect intermittent street closures during this operation.

Downtown parking

The municipal parking garage on Madison Street remains open and fully operational.

Ample parking is available for those conducting business downtown.

Sidewalks

Property owners are required to clear the sidewalks next to their properties as soon as possible. This is especially important near schools and high-pedestrian traffic areas.

Public transportation

JeffTran buses and HandiWheels service are running on their regularly scheduled routes. Bus shelters will be cleared as soon as possible. For questions, call 634-6477.