OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — If you got to stay inside on Super Bowl Sunday you were one of the lucky ones.
Crews in Overland Park are out right now – and have been all day – making sure the roads are clear of that slushy snow. Jeff Hunt, The Snow Boss for Overland Park Public Works says they did not anticipate this much snow, but when they saw their predictions rise, they put down their plows and hit the streets.
Hunt says they knew it was going to snow, but not like this.
“It was very unexpected. We went into it just thinking we’d probably have to treat the whole city with salt, and now we are actually plowing our residentials,” Hunt said.
They were prepared for the plan change.
“Forecasting is a prediction, so we’re pretty well used to kind of adjust of the fly,” Hunt said.
However, on Super Bowl Sunday, it’s not the kind of plans you want to change.
“We always got plans to watch the Super Bowl, but our guys are used to it. You know, we’ve been in here on Christmas before. We were here for the college football championship. So, they’re pretty well used to it unfortunately not being at some events,” Hunt said.
Well passed the end of the big game crews will still be treating the streets.
“When we drop plows it slows everything down. It will take us roughly twenty-four hours from the time it stops snowing to complete the city,” Hunt said.
Their second shift will be working until two in the morning.
“We’ll be reassessing our priority streets to make sure that they’re safe for the morning rush, and everything like that,” Hunt said.
Even with all their hard work they want you to be prepared.
“They need to take it slow, because with the temperatures we’re going to see – anything that we get that starts slushing up right now can refreeze, but we have crews, and we will be monitoring that very closely. So, I mean, by morning rush we should be in pretty good shape,” Hunt said.
Hunt wants to make sure people know to park on one side of the street in anticipation of another snowfall on Tuesday.
He says it really slows them down, and it’s incredibly helpful to their crews that are going from street to street.