photo by: Shawn Valverde

A snowplow works to keep up with the snow before dawn Sunday morning in Lawrence.

Major highways across the state are beginning to reopen Monday after having closed over the weekend due to dangerous conditions from a massive winter storm, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation.

KDOT said in a news release Monday morning that the major state highways in northeast Kansas are now open. That includes all interstate highways in the Kansas City metro area. Previously, Interstate-70 was closed on Sunday from Ellsworth/Hays to the Missouri state line. As of Monday morning, I-70 is now only closed from Ellsworth/Hays to just past Manhattan.

Another road that has reopened is Kansas Highway 10 in Lawrence from U.S. Highway 59 to the Douglas/Johnson County line. U.S. Highway 40 from K-4 in Topeka to K-10 in Lawrence is still closed as of Monday morning.

Transportation Secretary Calvin Reed said the storm was an “extraordinary weather event,” bringing record-breaking snowfalls in many parts of the state along with the initial freezing rain on Saturday. The scale of the storm created “significant challenges” for the crews tasked with clearing the roads, but they made substantial progress overnight. Reed asked travelers to be careful, as many of the roadways are still partially or completely covered with snow, according to KDOT’s updated traveler information website, kandrive.gov.

“We encourage travelers to use caution as snow-packed conditions may persist in some areas,” Reed said.

In addition to clearing roads overnight, KDOT crews worked in cooperation with the Kansas Highway Patrol and local emergency management officials to guide stranded motorists on I-70 in Dickinson County to shelter.

Although some of the major routes around Lawrence are beginning to reopen, there are still significant closures in areas west of Lawrence.

I-70 remains closed in both directions from Hays to the K-177 exit near Manhattan. State highways in north central Kansas remain closed in Jewell, Republic, Washington, Mitchell, Cloud, Clary, Lincoln, Ottawa, Ellsworth, Saline, Dickinson, Geary, Morris, McPherson, Marion and Chase counties. South central Kansas state highways in Reno, Harvey and Butler counties also remain closed.