Highways improving after slow morning commute 

ST. LOUIS - Lizzy Shakman went back to work Tuesday morning in her sister's all-wheel-drive vehicle. 

"My normal 15-minute commute took 36 minutes," she said. 

Shakman purposefully avoided highways on Tuesday. Other drivers around the area were frustrated by the conditions as they went out the door. 

One driver wrote FOX 2 saying, "It is unacceptable that two days later MoDOT has not cleared ramps and highways." 

Bommarito Automotive Group SkyFOX captured slow traffic and lanes still covered in snow and ice along Interstate 270 around 8 a.m. MoDOT admits the commute was tough. 

"This is the biggest storm we've had in many years, and it's really tested us," MoDOT District Maintenance Engineer Bob Becker said. 

By late morning, drivers were getting around with a little more ease, Becker saying that the sun really helped. 

With highways in better shape later in the day, people still had to be careful along on-ramps, where some drivers still got stuck. 

"One of the big struggles we had with this much snow is, where do you go with it all? We had been pushing it over to the right, leaving a couple of lanes open during the storm, and places like those ramps, we had a lot of struggles Monday morning. There's a lot of snow on the ramps," Becker said. 

AAA is still inundated with calls. It says call volume is up 150 percent this week, and as of Tuesday afternoon, it was still prioritizing emergencies. 

"We were able to increase tow staffing by about 25 percent to help handle that increased call volume, and it's still been a challenge to keep up with," AAA spokesperson Nick Chabarria said. 

Although the roads have improved since Monday, there were also a lot more people on the roads Tuesday, adding to the slowdown. 

MoDOT and AAA both warn that wet roads can easily refreeze overnight, so drivers still need to use caution as cleanup continues.