Following a meeting last month where local officials requested the creation of a memorandum of understanding with the Missouri Department of Transportation to allow local governments to assist the state with plowing state highways during snow events, MoDOT officials returned to Warren County Nov. 3 to discuss winter weather preparedness.

MoDOT Northeast District Engineer Kevin James told local officials they would be increasing the number of trucks the agency uses in the Warren County area.

James said in a typical year MoDOT dedicates two plow trucks west of Warrenton and two plow trucks east of Warrenton with the first priority being to plow Interstate 70 and Highway 47.

James said this year there would be no change west of Warrenton, but east of Warrenton the department would be adding an additional truck along I-70.

“Then on the outer roads we’re dedicating two trucks on the outer roads,” James said, noting one would be dedicated north of I-70 and one south of the interstate.

James added that one of the reasons they have had difficulty manning plow trucks in Warren County is the department’s difficulty in hiring staff in Warren County. He said due to this staffing shortage, the department will be bringing in employees from other areas such as Troy to help man plow trucks. James said currently MoDOT has six staff members in the area, when they should be at 14.

In response to the request from local governmental agencies to plow MoDOT routes, James said the only other part of the state that is even considering such an action is the Kansas City area. He said one of the problems is there isn’t a ready made agreement that they can simply copy and paste. The issue would need to be vetted by the department’s legal counsel.

Wright City Alderman Ramiz Hakim said he appreciated the information from James as the consensus from local officials at the previous meeting was that MoDOT was simply going to do what it did in previous years.

Truesdale Mayor Jerry Cannon said at the last meeting local officials were effectively told that they should forget about getting the letter roads cleared, but that James was telling them something different this time.

James explained that I-70 and Highway 47 are considered “continuous operation routes” which means that plows would be regularly plowing those roads during a winter weather event. He said under this plan the outer roads would also be considered continuous operation routes.

Prior to the winter weather updates, MoDOT hosted a meeting to update local officials on the work going on along I-70. During that discussion the number of accidents was again an issue. MoDOT officials said that statewide the number of accidents along the entire I-70 corridor in 2025 is currently 317, which is just a bit higher than the 315 accidents in 2024, but significantly less than the 457 accidents in 2023.

Improve I-70: East Project Team Director Kim Trainor said MoDOT is working on a program involving work zone cameras to help with traffic enforcement.

Officials with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said during the meeting that while the majority of semi-trucks involved in accidents are from out of state, the majority of those speeding through the work zones are actually locals.