By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Safe and clean highways are easy to take for granted, but someone is doing the work to keep them that way during the winter months. The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is dealing with a shortage of those people heading into the snow and ice season. Tim Potter, Public Affairs Manager for KDOT's District 5, said the job will still be completed.
"Part of our service is to remove snow and ice, and treat for snow and ice, as part of our maintenance of the highways," he said. "So it is a challenge for us, but we're doing some things to try and mitigate that."
Across the state, KDOT is about 24 percent short of snowplow operators needed to be fully staffed. District 5, which covers 18 counties in southcentral Kansas, including Barton, Stafford, Rush, and Rice counties, is doing marginally better at just 22 percent short. District 5 is responsible for nearly 4,500 miles of state highway, and Potter expects no dropoff in service to those roads.
"We want people to know, it's going to take longer, but we're committed to doing the job," he said. "It's going to take us longer to do it, but we're going to treat these highways as we always have."
KDOT is doing several things to mitigate the effects of the shortages, from hiring seasonal snowplow drivers, to helping new employees obtain their commercial driver's license (CDL). KDOT will utilize more employees who already have their CDL, such as supervisors, engineering techs, and mechanics, and focus on areas hit the hardest by storms.
"We'll have storms that hit some areas and not other areas, and hit some areas harder than others," Potter said. "We're going to be moving resources to where we need them the most."
KDOT officials said motorists can do their part to keep highways safe by checking road conditions and planning ahead. The website www.KanDrive.org offers 24/7 highway condition updates.