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MoDOT and STL Airport crews staff up ahead of Friday's wintry weather

Plow operators are ready to go for tomorrow's snow and ice

ST. LOUIS — Even the best travel plans whether in the air or on the road can be foiled by dreaded snow and ice. Friday's forecast has both.

RELATED: Storm Alert | Winter weather advisory in effect for St. Louis area as wintry mix develops for Friday

While this will not be an all-out storm, it will have a round of snow and a bit of ice. Crews at both MoDOT and St. Louis Lambert International Airport are optimistic they'll be able to stay on top of Friday's wintry weather.

MoDOT will start teams at midnight to prep the roads with de-icer. Unlike more typical systems, Friday will begin with snow and end with rain. The forecast will help road crews because rain will not wash away the prep de-icer like it has with past storms.

The timing for Friday's ice, no matter how little we receive, may not be ideal, 

"Ice always makes me nervous, especially around commute times," Bob Becker with MoDOT tell 5 On Your Side.

St. Louis Lambert International Airport is in a bit better shape for any winter weather. For one, airport crews only need to clear a few targeted areas. St. Louis is also able to utilize much larger and stronger equipment than MoDOT. 

"We use brush trucks to take care of the light snow and plows to manage the heavier snow and ice," Jeff Lea with St. Louis Lambert International Airport explains. 

Lea also said it takes high snowfall rates to overwhelm their maintenance crews and that is not the kind of weather they are expecting for Friday.

On the other side of the river, IDOT District 8, which encompasses 11 counties in the Metro East and surrounding areas, started their prep work on Thursday. 

A spokesman said they pretreated the northern portion of their district today as well as Interstate 255. He said they pretreated the northern part because it is expected to get the winter weather first. 

They also pretreated 255 also to give themselves some “breathing room” in the immediate Metro area in case the forecast changes and they find themselves getting behind.

They plan to start the day at their normal time tomorrow and use the morning to pretreat the rest of the district.

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