During last month’s back-to-back snow storms, Kansas Department of Transportation snow crews pretreated and plowed nearly 880,000 lane miles of highway – enough to circle the earth 35 times.
The storms dumped up to two feet of snow on the state over a week-long period beginning Feb. 20. Because the storms, named Q and Rocky, came on the heels of one another, crews got little or no rest between cleanup from one storm and preparation for the next.
About 1,200 KDOT employees logged some 80,000 hours in trucks, in offices in support of the crews and in communicating with the public with almost all working 12-hour or longer shifts for many consecutive days. During the storm, which cost the state an estimated $6.2 million, there were 74,000 calls to the 511 traveler information phone line and 9 million page views on the KDOT website.
“As impressive as the numbers are, statistics don’t tell the whole story,” said Transportation Secretary Mike King. “Our crews plowed through white-outs, helped motorists get their cars out of the snow, changed tires, checked on the welfare of stranded travelers and successfully performed a life-saving plow relay in blizzard conditions to get a patient to medical treatment hundreds of miles away.
“The crews provide a vital service and I’m grateful for all they did to keep Kansans safe and commerce moving.”