Banks of dirty, wet snow line the edges of Capitol HIll’s streets while sidewalks remain a slushy mess. Cars probably won’t be spinning out once they make it to the street but the new spectator sport is watching people try to dig their cars out. Maybe lend a hand. Here are some wrap-up notes on Snowbruary 2019’s Wednesday.
- Snow routes: Metro will restore most of its service and buses will operate on snow routes Wednesday morning “on a route-by-route basis,” the county says:
Riders are encouraged to visit Metro’s MetroWinter.com website for route specific information on Wednesday morning before traveling and sign up for alerts. Online updates are underway for over 200 bus routes and will be available by Wednesday morning.
🚨❄️🚌❄️🚨
RIDER ALERT! Prepare for snow reroutes & delays Wednesday, and BEFORE you ride check if your ROUTE is operating and WHERE https://t.co/QujzOTMXRZ
Then see if your TRIP is operating through Next Departures on our Trip Planner or text your stop ID to 62550. pic.twitter.com/mhKpk1gbew— King County Metro🚨❄️🚌❄️🚨 (@kcmetrobus) February 13, 2019
- No school: If the parents, grandparents, guardians, and child care pros in your life seem a little rundown, consider that Wednesday is yet another snow day. While the main streets are mostly clear, the soppy conditions moved Seattle Public Schools to declare yet another snow day:
Schools will be closed on Wednesday, Feb. 13 due to adverse weather conditions. We thank the City of Seattle for their continued and diligent efforts to clear roads including many near our schools. Yet, many sidewalks and walkways are not cleared of ice and slush, and side streets in the north and south ends of the district continue to be icy. All activities, athletics and public meetings are canceled. There will be no preschool or Head Start.
As for make-up days, the district reminds there are two scheduled — June 21 and 24 — but says the state won’t consider any waiver requests “until after the threat of further weather closures has passed.” UPDATE: Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said Wednesday the city has been working with Seattle Public School and King County Metro “to discuss immediate next steps to try and get our children back into schools as quickly as possible.” Seattle Schools has workers out clearing sidewalks near its campuses and SDOT road crews are out again pre-treating roads in anticipation of another freeze Wednesday night. As for garbage, crews are out for Monday/Tuesday customers Wednesday with other customers on a one-day delay. - Levies: The district is declaring victory in Tuesday’s vote on two school levies. “These two levy replacements will help fund critical day-to-day operations for Seattle Public Schools, including salaries, textbooks and materials, as well as the rebuild of eight aging schools, improved safety and security, increased technology access, and added capacity across our district,” a statement on the successful votes reads.
At what point does the city decide it needs to add the school adjacent side roads to the must plow list ? The economic impact of parents being forced to take days off is much greater across Seattle than any cost of clearing a few blocks. No doubt if the streets outside Amazon were left unplowed the wrath of bezos would be upon us.
I think a huge concern is most the teachers don’t live in the neighborhood they teach. Just because a child can walk to school doesnt mean his teacher isn’t commuting from northgate. It’s great most kids can walk to school but sadly the teachers most likely can’t.
I would agree that most teachers do not live in the neighborhood where they teach; however, the concern is more with sidewalks, which I would agree are not ideal.
This was the statement included in the email to teachers last night for the reasoning of school being canceled.
“We thank the City of Seattle for their continued and diligent efforts to clear roads including many near our schools. Yet, many sidewalks and walkways are not cleared of ice and slush, and side streets in the north and south ends of the district continue to be icy.”
Good point Ella. Also, as a parent in the neighborhood, I can tell you that my daughter’s elementary didn’t even do basic sidewalk clearing after last week’s snow (even though it’s a city law and a city institution) so just walking up the ramp to her school from 19th Ave was pretty scary. They aren’t going to plow those streets, they aren’t even going to clear the sidewalks at the school, therefore, parents. kids, and the city lose valuable school days and work days.
My employer has required that I be at work throughout this entire weather event, so I have been walking in daily. Some of the most treacherous sidewalks I have encountered on my route have been on the west side of the Nova school and around the power station at 22nd/23rd and Pine. Last night, I noticed that the Nova walkway from the building to the sidewalk was cleared, but the entire sidewalk itself was left a horrible icy and slushy mess. It is clear that a paid employee had been on site, but it is odd that they failed to shovel the sidewalk. This is something they require of homeowners and businesses, so it feels wrong that they would exempt themselves. To me, this is one more example of how city officials lack accountability while blaming citizens and homeowners for all of the city’s problems.
To me, this is one more example of how city officials lack accountability while blaming citizens and homeowners for all of the city’s problems.
To be fair, plenty of businesses, apartments and houses did not shovel their sidewalks and the City did not enforce the law or cite them. While it’s definitely not setting a good example, it’s not like they are treating non-government entities unfairly in this regard.