Estimated $5.5 million spent to clear up roadways

As Missourians shovel out from under this week's massive snowfall, the state

Transportation Department has a big bill to pay.

MoDOT spent $5.5 million, said a spokesman, Jorma Duran. That estimate includes the more

than 40,000 hours of overtime labor and the 20,000 tons of salt used during

the storm, he said.

"There's never going to be a time where MoDOT says, 'We've got to stop our winter operations because of money,'" he said. "We want to make sure that the motorists are safe out there. So, if it costs however much it costs, it's what it is."

Duran said the amount of salt used during the historic storm only accounts for 10 percent of the

department's annual salt supply.

The transportation department's salt supplies are divided among districts across the state. On Monday (Jan. 31), the state's most populated districts still had at least half of their salt supplies remaining. Crews in St. Louis had begun salting the roads Sunday (Jan. 30) with a mixture of salt and sand to conserve their supply.