With forecasters stating it's very likely wintry precipitation will start early on Thursday morning, Columbia Public Works is making preparations for snow and ice management on Columbia's roadways.

We have been monitoring the forecast closely for the past several days when our forecasting service stated there was a potential for winter weather mid-week.

At this point, we are doing the following -

• Checking equipment such as plows, spreaders, and loaders to make sure they are fully operational. We've have two minor events this year and our equipment is in good condition.
• Pre-treating priority routes with a brine solution. This salt water solution will help begin melting snow and ice as it falls onto the roadways.
• Finalizing our staffing plan as to when crews will report, how many crews and how many crews will be called in. 
• Monitoring the forecast from our weather forecasting service. We remain in constant contact with our forecasters to obtain updates as to forecasted precipitation start times, forecasted amounts, and forecasted precipitation end times.

We will post updates via press releases and via our Facebook account at www.FaceBook.com/ColumbiaMissouriPublic Works and our Twitter account @pub_works. The Facebook account will automatically feed our Twitter account throughout the event.

We urge our customers to monitor local forecasts, be prepared for slickness on roadways during the Thursday morning commute and throughout the day on Thursday, allow for extra time and to slow down and buckle up.

We will issue additional updates mid to late afternoon today.