Date:
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Contact:
Melanie Coon, WSDOT Communications, (360) 507-4242
OLYMPIA – Snow and colder temperatures moved into Central Puget Sound during the afternoon and evening hours snarling traffic and challenging road crews.
Snow moved into the area from north to south and WSDOT moved its crews around shifting from trouble spot to trouble spot, helping drivers and clearing roadways. As conditions in other areas improved, additional crews were brought in from all over the state to help battle the conditions in Puget Sound.
There are no road closures at this time, but single lane closures remain on several highways as a result of disabled or abandoned vehicles. State Patrol and WSDOT are working quickly to clear these vehicles.
WSDOT Incident Response teams were a critical component of the snow fight, helping clear blocked roadways and assisting disabled vehicles. Teams will continue to rove highways overnight and throughout the morning commute hours.
Conditions have improved considerably in the northern part of Puget Sound from Bellingham to King County, the I-5 corridor is especially good in these areas. Right now our crews are working hard to clear areas in east and south King County. I-90 was hit especially hard with snow during the evening commute and it is still snowing in South King County/Kent Valley area. South sound trouble spots included SR 16 between I-5 and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge receiving approximately 4 to 5 inches of snow. SR 18 near Peasley Canyon was a challenge in both directions most of the evening. Our weather forecasters expect this to continue until midnight.
Overnight we will concentrate on plowing and treating trouble spots and blanketing the region with material that fights ice and improves traction. We expect temperatures to drop during the 3 - 4 a.m. hour causing widespread icy conditions.
Needless to say, the morning commute will be a challenge. We expect icy conditions throughout western Washington. We hope drivers can help us by adjusting travel plans and flexing their schedules if possible. This will spread out traffic and allow our crews to treat the trouble spots. We expect the roadway to improve by 9 a.m. Drivers should prepare for winter road conditions and expect congestion as they head into the evening commute. All previously scheduled lane closures have been cancelled.
What can drivers do?
*Check the web before you head out to get an accurate picture of conditions: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/
*Drive for winter conditions: slow down and keep extra space between you and the vehicle in front of you.
*Please slow down and be aware emergency crews will be on the roadways.
*Leave room for road crews and if you have car trouble, pull to the side and stay inside your vehicle to wait for assistance. Vehicles impeding snow-removal equipment could be ticketed and abandoned vehicles could be towed.
*Drivers can call 5-1-1 from any phone to get timely road updates.
*For up-to-date closure and travel information on roadways by county, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/weather/updates/.
Interesting facts:
*WSDOT has more than 200 trucks on the road in Western Washington working on improving the condition of state highways. Equipment includes snow plows, sanders, dump trucks, graders and deicers.
*We have more than 200 people working the roads.
*We applied de-icer to many roads and continue aggressively applying chemicals, however drivers should always pay extra attention to ramps, bridges and overpasses.
*We will not activate ramp meters on freeway on ramps during ice and snow.
*Camera images, roadway temperatures and weather information can be found at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/roadtemps/
*Mountain pass reports are on the WSDOT web site at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/passes
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