Stopping by Show-Me on a Snowy Morning

All apologies to Robert Frost for the title, but the rest of the Show-Me Institute staff is in the process of digging their cars out from the snow and there isn’t anybody here to police my desecration of an American icon (not like that’s been a problem lately).

Events like this, though, bring to mind a number of legitimate concerns about Missouri roadways under severe weather conditions. While our good friend David Stokes has heaped praise on the folks of MoDOT as of late, I can’t help but wonder whether the response to this most recent storm is an indication that the department might be spread a bit too thin. I understand that nearly every major roadway in St. Louis County is undergoing construction, that MODOT is doing everything it can to ease congestion with warnings for motorists to stay home, and using highway plow groups the Post-Dispatch described as "gang plow strike teams," and that every complaint I have might be better directed at St. Louis County, but still — aren’t all of the excuses moot if nobody can get to work?

Maybe I’m just bitter that it took me 10 minutes to scrape off my windshield.