The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory from 6 p.m. tonight to 6 p.m. Friday.
In response, the city of Columbia is preparing for tonight’s snowfall by sending out a partial, 19-person snowplow crew at 7 p.m. The city has sent out as many as 33 plows at once this season.
Columbia Public Works spokesman John Ogan said crews will focus on keeping priority routes in passable condition throughout the night.
Columbia only treats neighborhood roads — in addition to priority routes — when they’ve got four or more inches of snow on them. Ogan said last weekend’s snowfall was the first in about two years to meet that threshold.
The National Weather Service expects between 2 to 4 inches of snow to fall tonight.
As of Thursday afternoon, city officials deemed Columbia’s streets 100 percent “passable." But Ogan said the city does not define “passable” as clear of snow.
“We define passable as being able to be traversed by a vehicle that is front wheel drive, driving at speeds well below the speed limit using, what we call prudent winter weather driving tactics,” Ogan said.
That includes driving slower and stopping sooner.
But until the snow and ice naturally melts, Columbia residents should not expect their roads to be completely cleared by city plows.
“It would take an enormous amount of salt in order to do that,” Ogan said. “And that would strain not only our budgets, but it would also impact local watersheds as that salt flowed into them.”
Other cities in the country have tried methods such as liquid saltwater brine or beet juice as environmentally friendly alternatives. Ogan said citizens who want to see similar changes in the Columbia's winter weather plan are welcome to share their concerns and ideas with the city council.
In the meantime, residents are encouraged to check the city’s snow map and report trouble spots that are not reasonably passable by emailing pubw@como.gov or calling 573-874-2489.
As of Thursday evening, trash collection is expected to resume as scheduled on Friday, as are Go COMO bus and Paratransit services.
