After last December’s disastrous snow response, the city has come
up with a new plan that includes using more salt and hired a new street maintenance director who has considerable snow removal experience.
Here’s the full press release:
City Debuts New Snow Plan for Seattle
Applies national best practices, hires new Street Maintenance director
SEATTLE – The city of Seattle today announced the completion of a comprehensive effort to revamp and upgrade its winter storm readiness and response plan. In addition, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) welcomes aboard Monty Sedlak as the new director of Street Maintenance.
“Based on nationwide best practices, our new plan will ensure Seattle is ready for any kind of winter storm,” said SDOT Director Grace Crunican. “With an aggressive, high-tech oriented approach and new leadership, SDOT will keep people and goods moving in Seattle during challenging winter weather.”
Plan highlights include:
-A new approach to snow that includes an expanded use of salt brine and salt, and limited use of sand;
-Significant improvements to facilities and fleet to include GPS technology and weather awareness;
-An improved organizational structure and significant training for winter storms;
-A commitment to better communicate with the people of Seattle and agency partners; and
-Performance measures to objectively evaluate accomplishments.
Designed in consultation with King County Metro Transit, city agencies and other key partners, the plan will facilitate a coordinated response that keeps buses moving and critical institutions accessible, including hospitals. Businesses and residents are reminded of their obligation to shovel sidewalks near their properties.
Mr. Sedlak, formerly the Road and Bridge Division manager for Arapahoe County, Colo., possesses significant winter storm experience and will be a key leader in applying SDOT’s new snow response procedures as of October 26. To learn more about the plan and the new snow map, visit http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/winterweather.htm.
The Seattle Department of Transportation builds, maintains and operates Seattle’s $12 billion transportation infrastructure. To further Mayor Nickels’ goal to get Seattle moving, the department manages short- and long-term investments in streets, bridges, pavement and trees, that better connect the city with the region.
18 responses so far ↓
1 Kris // Oct 6, 2009 at 3:59 pm
What a disaster. Salt is not a great way to deal with winter roads–it gets into the water table, kills plants and destroys cars.
The trick to winter driving is to be prepared. Have supplies in your vehicle and appropriate clothing. Buy dedicated winter snow tires, and keep chains in the vehicle for icy conditions.
You don’t need all-wheel-drive to get around in the snow. Good snow tires are a must. 4×4′s and AWD cars don’t steer or stop any better than 2WD cars. Any reliable car with good snow tires is plenty capable of dealing with any Seattle winter.
We certainly don’t need salt. Sand and improved plowing, as well as better prepared commuters is the way to go.
2 MikePhoto // Oct 6, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Sand is a good thing, IF they can properly deal with it afterwards…and they have pretty much demonstrated that they CAN’T. There are still areas that have a lot of loose sand from last year. It is always a lot of fun to hit a patch of it on a motorcycle as you go through a turn. It’s like thousands of little, tiny ball bearings under your wheels, and all you can do is hold on and hope that you actually STAY on those two wheels this time.
I’ve been calling the city to report various hazardous intersections full of leftover sand since the spring, but they usually come through and sweep up what’s in the middle of the road, leaving what’s near the curb to be kicked out by other traffic again.
3 SPG // Oct 6, 2009 at 5:40 pm
It’s not a question of using salt or never using salt, but a question of when and how much. This is where SDOT had problems last year when they went by the book despite the conditions on the ground.
4 Trix // Oct 6, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Buy more snowplows. Sand the sidewalks. How hard is that?
Salt is a good thing, but learn how to use the other methods better this winter too. Hopefully this small regime change will help remove the SDOT blinders.
5 Tiktok // Oct 6, 2009 at 8:12 pm
The problem with snow tires is that in Seattle you only need them a few days out of the year, and they’re a drag to drive around on when there’s no snow, you need somewhere to store the regular set, and you have to make an appointment and pay money to get them put on and taken off. For the typical three days a year there’s any snow on the ground, it’s not worth it, and by the time Snowpocalypse shows up, it’s too late.
6 Jon // Oct 6, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Salt or not, this is better than the plan they had for the past two winters, which was more or less: “Snow and ice? What’s that?”
I’m from the East coast (grew up with blizzards), and in my first winter out here, I asked the girl at the bus stop with me: “So when do the snow plows and salt trucks make their rounds, usually? There’s a thick layer of black ice on the roads.”
“Plows and salt?”
“Yeah, you know, to clear the streets?”
“Clear the streets?”
Not a second later, some idiot came cruising down Greenwood Ave. at 45mph, slammed on his breaks and spun wildly out of control. On the way to work, our bus ended up in a ditch.
Chains and expensive tires don’t fix everything, Kris. Sorry. If this winter is as bad as last year, we’re going to need salt. And I know you’re a car guy, but I would have to seriously disagree with your assessment of 4WD handling in heavy snow conditions.
7 Z // Oct 6, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Ummm…yeah, better prepared commuters. Oh wait…none of the buses could move around either. Maybe the bus drivers should carry around kitty litter. I especially enjoyed the fact that my 60 y.o. dad had to walk up and down QA Hill every day to get to and from work. He didn’t have the option not to go or work from home. He couldn’t drive down the hill and they had no bus service for something like close to a week. If only he had put on those dedicated snow tires and had extra clothes it woulda been juuust fiiine.
I simply don’t understand everyone’s aversion to using salt on the roads around here. This was one of the worst winters ever and maybe it would have needed to be used like 5 times. Oh mercy me!
8 Jon // Oct 6, 2009 at 8:51 pm
And if you’re really concerned about water pollutant levels and plants, we should all stop using the internal combustion engine, while we’re at it. Especially for recreational use.
9 Mark // Oct 6, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Brilliant, hire another body who is a professional in dealing with snow. How often do we get crippling snow in Seattle, once every 10 years? What does this guy do in off years, polish the snow plow?
WTF with the salt? Last winter it was ‘we don’t use salt because it is bad for our environment.’ Now suddenly it is our go to solution with gravel as a back up.
This story that just rubs me the wrong way.
10 Tiktok // Oct 6, 2009 at 9:54 pm
And where are the snow plows going to push the snow? So many people park in the streets, and the non-arterials are too narrow for snow in the middle. A few inches of snow falls one night, no-one can unpark themselves (because they don’t have their snowtires on) to get out of the way of the snowplow-generated snowbanks comprised of the snow that’s been plowed off the streets.
11 Iron City Mike // Oct 7, 2009 at 9:09 am
I’ve lived in Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Syracuse (the snowiest city in the continental US). In certain circumstances, salt IS needed, trust me. If its between some plants and a bussload of people sliding out of control onto I-5 (as nearly happened last year) I side with the people. I’m all for environmentalism, but not when taken to extremes.
12 tiktok // Oct 7, 2009 at 9:31 am
Let’s not forget that salt destroys cars too….
13 Danimal // Oct 7, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Salt destroys cars if you dont maintain them… The DOT has been using a salt solution for years, and if you drive on a freshly deiced road or freeway, you should run through the car wash to get the salt washed off the underside of your car… also if there is snow on the road and uneasy at driving in the snow then walk!!!
14 Travis // Oct 7, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Salt is definitely a hot button issue. BUt that aside, the single major FAIL last winter was serious lack of plowing. I get that we are Seattle and we don’t ALWAYS have bad storms. I get that we don’t have enough plows to plow everywhere. But seriously — Aurora? 5th Ave? These were TERRIBLE last Winter b/c they weren’t even plowed! Then it turns into a nasty icy crunchy mess.
Basic plowing of major roads with some salt will do wonders.
Salt would help, and I get the negatives of it. My point is simply that the basics of plowing were a major fail last year.
15 Fred // Oct 8, 2009 at 6:42 am
“Salt is definitely a hot button issue.”
Only for people who think economic impacts (you know, like people having to work for a living) should never be taken into account when it comes to being ‘green’.
16 Iron City Mike // Oct 8, 2009 at 7:53 am
Never mind getting to work, how about getting to the grocery store for food or the drug store for medicine or the hospital if you get sick? The whole city cannot shut down over a few inches of snow.
17 SPG // Oct 8, 2009 at 10:51 am
Travis, there wasn’t a lack of plowing last winter, but a lack of effective plowing. The plows were running back and forth on 85th for days, but they had their rubber tips on the plow blades that would just bounce off the ice and do nothing. The rubber tips work great when there’s just a few inches of light snow or even slush, but they can’t cut in to the ice or hardpack. Once the decision was finally made to take off the rubber tips towards the end of the storm they were able to plow down to pavement. The only problem was that they also plowed off those little painted bumps that SDOT uses for lane markers.
18 N // Nov 24, 2009 at 2:54 am
Seattle needs to wake up and smell the coffee about our weather! The winters are more wintery and the summers are down right toasty! Salt and sand need to be used for people’s safe travel in winter storms if the snow is more than a couple of inches for more than a day or two. A/C needs to be allowed in rental apartments and houses when its in the upper 80′s & 90′s for more than our traditional week of summer we have enjoyed in the past. Things need to change around here! We must take note of how the east coast deals with this sort of weather and try to do the same. Its only humane!
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