EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – Crews on both sides of the river are getting ready to battle the winter storm and clear roadways as quickly as possible.

Traffic is moving smoothly now above 55/64 in East St. Louis, Illinois. However, that could all change by this time Wednesday morning as the winter storm rolls in and hits the area.

MoDOT officials are urging drivers to be aware of changing road conditions Tuesday night into Wednesday morning as the storm impacts the area. Authorities believe enough snow will fall with this storm to make driving difficult, especially during the commute Wednesday morning.

MoDOT said crews will be out Tuesday night as the weather conditions start to change, then crews will stay out for as long as it takes to clear the roads. IDOT has a similar strategy.

Joe Monroe with IDOT told FOX 2 that pretreating roadways might not be real effective with this storm because of the rain that could precede the snow. He shared that ahead of the storm, crews are focused on fix potholes and making sure all of their equipment is ready to go.

“We’re actually focusing on trying to get the potholes filled with it being forecast as a wet pretty heavy snow – then temperatures in subsequent days actually cooling off we’re really trying to make sure we’re in good shape coming out of the storm.”

“I’ve been stuck on the highway out here on 55 and 70 for like three hours before. So try to at least keep some water, make sure you’ve got enough fuel in your vehicle. And keep your phone charged because you never know what could happen.” 

IDOT and MODOT will of course fine tune their plans as Tuesday unfolds, and the storm gets closer.