KSHB 41 reporter Megan Abundis covers Kansas City, Missouri, including neighborhoods in the southern part of the city. Share your story idea with Megan.
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Kansas City snow crews are working around the clock to clear roads after 12 hours of straight snowfall dropped 5 inches in some areas.
Some residents praised the city's improved response compared to previous years.
The goal is to clear roads within 24-48 hours of snow stopping, and with nearly 24 hours passed since Monday's snowfall ended, crews are making significant progress despite facing an upcoming refreeze.
Pretreatment of roads with salt has been effective, melting the snow into slush that crews are now pushing to the sides of roads.
"We started to see melt," said Michael Shaw, director of Kansas City Public Works. "We are feverishly out here trying to push this snow off the street, get the slushy stuff off the street."
However, the city is preparing for challenging conditions ahead.
"We know we got a cold front coming in Thursday, which we are concerned about," Shaw said. "We want to make sure we get these streets as clear as possible before that comes in Thursday."
Longtime Kansas City residents are noticing improvements in the city's snow response. Darlisa Dean-Drummer, who has lived near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and U.S. 71 Highway for 25 years, was impressed with this year's efforts.
"I think this is really good compared to what it's been over the years. I'll take it; this is great," Dean-Drummer said.
Having experienced last year's snow response in her neighborhood, she sees clear improvement.
"I have to give thumbs up to the city today, I really do. I think they've done a great job," she said.
North of the river, residents also noticed the city's proactive approach.
"Overall, this street is not too bad. They said they were woken up at 4 in the morning by snowplows," Karen Chambers said of her neighbors' experience with early-morning snow removal efforts.
The city implemented several improvements for this snow season that contributed to the better response. KCMO trained over 100 new drivers, bringing the total workforce to 350 people; 175 on the day shift and 175 on the night shift.
Kansas City also condensed neighborhood routes that were previously too large, breaking them down and adding 30 new routes to shorten them overall.
Director Shaw said the team treated this storm like a major snow event rather than a minor one, suspending trash pickup early to focus resources on snow removal.
As crews continue to plow following today’s snow, Monday’s trash collection is canceled this week.
— Kansas City (@KansasCity) December 1, 2025
Tuesday-Friday’s collection will be delayed by one day. Residents with Monday collection will be allowed extra bags next week.
Stay updated: https://t.co/jHDXAeM0sx pic.twitter.com/3cCGBVSIdL
The city will resume trash pickup Wednesday while continuing snow removal efforts.
"There is going to be refreeze," Shaw warned. "Black ice is a concern to us. Please be careful."
The city's work is far from over as crews race against Thursday's cold temperatures. Tuesday night's plan includes laying down lots of salt, then pushing slush during daylight hours before the refreeze sets in.
When asked about the city's hiring freeze affecting Public Works, Shaw acknowledged the challenges while emphasizing commitment to service delivery.
"I would say we can always use people, but we have a fiduciary responsibility not just providing the delivery of the basic services," Shaw said. "That being said, we have the resources we need to do a good job. I think we have done well with what we have, but we can always use more and always do more."
At last check, Public Works had 68 positions frozen and unfilled due to the city's budget constraints.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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