Kansas City, Mo. ? If this month’s almost constant stream of winter weather has been tough to drive through, it has been just as hard for transportation officials in urban areas trying to keep the icy roads safe.

The waves of heavy snow and ice, combined with power outages that shut down operations in Kansas salt mines, has sapped supplies of salt used by road crews to keep highways and streets passable.

The Kansas Department of Transportation said it is down to 800 tons of salt to treat 2,000 miles of highways in Johnson, Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties.

On Friday, as the Kansas City area’s fourth major storm in December dumped up to three inches of snow, the department used sand to supplement its salt supply.

That led to some roads being slicker than usual and contributed to a rash of accidents. The Kansas Highway Patrol reported 30 crashes between 6 a.m. and noon in the Kansas City area. On the other side of the state line, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said it had worked 31 accidents by 2 p.m.

“The result of (using sand) is the roads are taking longer to melt off,” said KDOT spokeswoman Kim Qualls.

The department started the winter season with about 10,000 tons of salt for the metro area. Orders for more salt have been delayed as ice storms earlier this month knocked out power for several days to Kansas mines that produce the salt.

“Our guys are waiting for orders to show up,” Qualls said.

The Missouri Department of Transportation has used 70 percent of the 48,000 tons off salt it had set aside for the eight-county metro Kansas City area.

“We’ve been hit pretty hard,” said Bill Billings, maintenance superintendent for the department’s Kansas City office.

Billings said the office ordered 3,600 tons on Dec. 7 and expects to receive the salt on Wednesday.

Unlike their Kansas counterparts, MoDOT road crews are using straight salt on the interstates but are mixing in sand on lettered highways.

Qualls said she believes KDOT can handle a few more brief snowstorms but anything larger could become a problem.

She added that the state department is receiving salt from its suppliers but much of that is being sent to parts of the state that have been hit with more severe weather. The metro area would be the next to get salt, she said.

The weather hasn’t just affected state officials. The city of Wichita has already burned through its $450,000 budget for snow and ice removal as it has suffered through one of the snowiest Decembers on record.

“Some years we don’t spend all that, and some years we need more, and we’re going to need more this time,” said Chris Carrier, the city’s public works director.

So far this month, the Wichita area has received 10.6 inches of snow, the highest December amount since 12.6 inches fell in 1987.

City officials said they have a steady supply of salt and sand but Sedgwick County officials say they’re struggling.