Area commuters brave hazardous road conditions

Despite Monday's winter storm leaving most Cape Girardeau city roads down to a single, ice-covered lane, traffic on Kingshighway moved freely, and the wintry mix didn't stop many people from getting to work Tuesday morning, said BP employee Kerri Dodd.

Though she didn't see many accidents on her way to work, Dodd, 26, described her drive to Cape Girardeau from her Jackson home as "scary. "

"People were flying around me, and it was dark," she said.

Pulling into the BP's parking lot, Dodd said her car got stuck in the fresh snow because no tracks had yet been made by other vehicles.

"It's the first time I've ever driven in snow," Dodd said.

"We haven't had anything like this in such a long time."

Despite the slick road conditions, the BP had a steady stream of about 20 to 25 customers by 7:20 a.m. Tuesday morning, including most of the gas station and convenience store's "regulars."

Greg Bollinger, who lives between Thebes and Olive Branch, Ill., stopped at the BP to fuel up, only to find his gas cap cover frozen solid.

Bollinger, an electrician at Southeast Missouri Hospital, had to pass on the fuel until he could get to work and de-ice the cover.

Bollinger said getting to Cape Girardeau was a challenge Tuesday because he lives "off the beaten path," and Southern Illinois's Route 3 was a solid sheet of ice and slush.

Bollinger's not the only one who had some difficulty with the weather conditions getting to work on time Tuesday.

When Rod Stallard, a truck driver for Sysco Food Services, went out to his car at 3 a.m. to begin his day, he found it impossible to get out of the driveway at his Marquand, Mo., residence.

Once he found a way to work, he found the trailer brakes on his truck had frozen, he said.

Stallard said the weather pushed his first stop of the day about an hour-and-a-half behind schedule - and there were 16 more deliveries yet to be made.

"I'll be out here till dark - it's going to take all day, and that's if it goes well," he said.

At Amerimart on Kingshighway, Cindy Kile said she'd had a few "frozen" customers trail in during early morning hours, eager for hot coffee, but traffic in and out of the convenience store had been much slower than usual.

Kile said it took her an extra 10 minutes to get to work on Tuesday, but she liked having the road to herself at 5 a.m.

"I can slide without worrying about anyone else being on the road," she said.