Column:

MoDOT not prepared for winter weather

By Justin Prochaska

Published Feb. 16, 2010

When I was a young lad living in Texas, I would long for snow.

"It is so pretty," I thought to myself, "and school is canceled. I wish it snowed all the time."

I wish I could go back in time and warn that poor young man.

Now, in my second year at MU, I don't exactly welcome the white stuff, despite its beauty.

Let's take this last week for example. We had about four days of snow and days upon days of sub-freezing temperatures and a lot of accumulation.

To put it lightly, it was miserable.

When I awoke the other morning, I sat up in bed under my three layers of blankets and comforters and looked out the window, dreading my imminent trek to the J school. I thought about trudging through the snow with water in my boots and wind in my face, losing feeling in my exteriors while falling not-so-gracefully face-first into six inches of pristine powder.

Have you ever had to walk around all day with wet, cold socks? It is perhaps the worst phenomenon in the world. Seriously, I would rather sit through a Miley Cyrus concert than be stuck all day with wet socks.

Thankfully, all that never came to fruition.

Luckily for MU students, there was around the clock work to clear out the sidewalks around campus. They really did do a great job cleaning up campus. Yes, folks, I actually praised MU doing something right.

The sidewalks around campus were surprisingly safe. I was anticipating being ankle deep in snow and watching more people flop than at a Duke basketball game.

I saw no floppers. I had no ice in my boots. It was very impressive.

I saw the men in the John Deere tractors plowing snow out of the way and putting down the beet juice and salt (apparently, this is what they use to melt ice and snow) to perturb the slipperiness. These men definitely get my stamp of approval.

The Missouri Department of Transportation needs to take notes.

MoDOT has done a horrendous job keeping the streets safe and clean. I certainly understand the streets of a town are more difficult to keep safe than the sidewalks in and around MU, but I find it hard to believe MoDOT can do such a bad job.

The streets were disgusting and appalling.

There was tons of ice and chunks of snow everywhere. Everything about the streets was hazardous. I needed to go the store but once I saw the condition of the streets (that are bad enough to begin with) and the snow falling, I surrendered.

A box of cereal wasn't worth almost certain death.

This is Missouri.

They should be used to snow, so I don't quite get why the road conditions are so poor.

I don't work for MoDOT, and it could be trying all it can to clear to roads, but it's not good enough. I know the snow falls faster than they can clean the roads, but maybe they should manage their time and money more wisely.

MoDOT just invested in some pricy red light and speeding cameras and are planning a multi-million dollar renovation to Stadium Boulevard. Maybe they should use our tax dollars to invest in a little more winter weather clean up rather than trying to catch speeders and anxious red light runners.

Cleaning the streets is integral to public safety. People have the habit of driving as fast as they can around these parts, so that makes good road conditions even more important.

Luckily for us, the cold will be gone in a few short weeks. It's been a long, cold, lonely winter, but it's almost spring and it feels like years since it's been here.