Given the predictions for a chilly La Niña winter in Seattle, last week’s citywide freakout over snowy, ice roads was a sign of things to come. While it was nowhere near as bad as the 2008/2009 storms, there were still lots of screw-ups and head-scratch worthy decisions. Below is a recap of CHS coverage of the week in #snOMG — and a report card of sorts for the people and things that make the city work — and not work — when the temperature drops and the snow stars to fall.
Thanksgiving 2010 #snomg re-cap
- Snow on the Summit (Ave) — Forecast shifts toward more to come — UPDATE: Metro, SDOT ready snow or not
- Capitol Hill #snomg Thanksgiving week 2010: Monday update
- Capitol Hill #snomg Thanksgiving week 2010: Monday night update
- Capitol Hill #snomg Thanksgiving week 2010: Tuesday update
- CHS Pics: Capitol Hill #snomg Thanksgiving week 2010 instant nostalgia
- Capitol Hill #snomg Thanksgiving week 2010: Tuesday night update — 13F, Thanksgiving snow
- Capitol Hill #snomg Thanksgiving week 2010: Wednesday update — Brief thaw
- Capitol Hill #snomg Thanksgiving week 2010: Thanksgiving update
- SDOT and WSDOT: This is a friendly grade. All in all, both agencies managed to rally from a horrible start. By Thanksgiving, even with temperatures still below or near freezing, the roads were clear, open and mostly safe. And you can’t pin all of Monday night’s fiasco on the people responsible for clearing the streets. It was a communication problem for everybody (see below). But Tuesday’s iffy start on keeping things clear and moving is where we’ll focus. Too many key routes around the Hill were blocked. You two have work to do! C- (was a C but we wanted to motivate!)
- Metro: Off all the agencies and elements in this list, Metro seemed to learn the least from the past and has the most work to do before we try this again. Its abandoned and sliding buses became the icons of the storm, once more. Its communication for riders was a problem. Even when it stabilized its service on Wednesday and with its new alerts systems firing away, Metro still wasn’t able to provide riders definitive information on whether a route was operating or not and where the next bus was. But, even with the abandoned coaches stacked at 23rd and Aloha, 18th and Union and down near the Olive Way I-5 exit, we’re not flunking Metro. Some of the new strategies worked and, especially as a connective element between home and light rail, we know of a few anecdotes from around the Hill where Metro saved the day. D+
- Light rail: Such a good student! A
- City Hall: Um, where were these guys? Communication from departments was good through the week but after Monday’s City Council briefing from Metro (scheduled before the snow was even forecast), we didn’t hear a peep from the mayor or the council. Note to Seattle’s next mayoral wannabes: Get in a 4×4 and deliver salt and shovels around the neighborhoods and you’ll be a hero. Incomplete for non-attendance
- Denny Way sledders: Yeah, you were loud and you left trash again. And there was some kind of horrific accident, again. But the videos and pictures of your daredevil joy were, again, a refreshing antidote to snow-bitching. A- (don’t litter)
- Capitol Hill snow fashion: You can tell we don’t do this a lot. The Hill’s snow garb is a mix of practical and just-got-off-the-slopes snow boarder dude. An Englishman in a purple jacket said to his companion after watching your humble CHS reporter walk through the cafe, “It’s the kind of thing you’d normally see on the mountain. But it’s their streets, you see. They’re a mess.” C
- Capitol Hill sidewalks: We’re supposed to shovel them and de-ice them if we’re a property owner. Trekking around the Hill, there was more of this activity this time around than last time but it was still a pretty slippery Hill. Not sure what is in the ‘eco-friendly’ deicers but they work. Still, there are plenty of stretches of sidewalk that are never going to be cleared. Seems like this might be worth a real solution, SDOT. C-
- Cliff Mass: Because we love him, we have to be tough. Turns out, Cliff is human. D+ (he’ll do better next time)
- Media and technology: For the most part, I thought we showed respectable restraint. Of course, I never turned the TV on the entire week so who knows what kind of garbage I missed. Big media didn’t seem to do the full-on ‘hide your family, hide your kids’ thing and little media kicked ass as neighborhood news sites (beyond the Hill) were active clearinghouses of information. But the king of it all was Teh Internets. Twitter and Facebook had all the answers. It felt like it made a major difference on this side of the wall. More information, please. A-
Now it’s your turn. How did you grade the first big snow storm to follow the rounds of planning and investments to solve ‘adverse weather’ problems? Any categories we missed? Also, feel free to let it rip on our coverage and what we could do to better serve the community at times like #snomg Thanksgiving 2010.
Thanks for the local coverage here on Capitol Hill Blog! It was great! I especially found the list of open grocery stores and restaurants useful, but also enjoyed all the other coverage.
One quick suggestion, reports on what roads have heavy ice on them and what appears to be clear could have been useful. On Tuesday night, for example, we found I-5 clear, E Madison mostly clear with some ice, 15th Ave E mostly clear with some ice up to John, and then 15th Ave E a sheet of solid ice north of John (north of the Safeway). Would have been great to have more reports like that!
Thanks again, you all! This blog is great!
the sidewalks were absolutely appalling. one can normally count on at least businesses clearing their walks. but noooo, not in seattle. not even businesses took care of their property. not even huge ones, like starbucks! all of these places should have deicer and litter in their storeroom for occasions like this. and if they didnt have anyone slip, fall, and sue their lazy and ill-prepared asses after not clearing their walks, they should be thanking their lucky stars.
it’d be great if residential properties took care of this too, but with the huge number of rentals on the Hill, i’m not surprised that the arterial walks were a mess. but seriously — Broadway sidewalks covered in slush? ridiculous. absolutely ridiculous.
Too infrequent of an occurrence.
If the stores want me to shop, they are going to have to clear the sidewalks like grownups.
It’s the property occupant’s responsibility to clear the sidewalks, be it business, renter or owner. If you don’t and somebody slips, they can own you. Not worth it, just buy a bag of salt and go to it.