Date:  Monday, November 22, 2010

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Drivers can help by planning ahead

SEATTLE – The afternoon commute and a second wave of cold, icy air combined to create a challenging situation for drivers and WSDOT crews trying to fight the snow.

“We had our crews out Sunday night applying anti-icer and we had crews out Monday with sand, salt and de-icer,” said Chris Christopher, State Maintenance Engineer. “The afternoon storm moved in so quickly and covered such a wide area.”

Drivers made the mad dash to get home once the storm started. Temperatures dropped and the roads began to ice up. WSDOT crews were unable to get to the trouble spots because they were caught in the same congestion that drivers found themselves in. Multiple collisions in multiple locations had WSDOT crews and WSP crews chasing collisions.

The worst areas were south of Seattle: Southcenter, the Duwamish area, the Sea-Tac area, Federal Way, Pacific, Tacoma and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. At 8 p.m. many state highways and interstates south of Seattle were still congested.

Overnight plan
WSDOT has a plan for the overnight hours with the snow still falling and temperatures still dropping.

Officials are shifting resources from Whatcom County, where the weather has let up, to Snohomish and King counties where icy roads are still a problem. We are also staggering 12-hour working shifts to get the maximum coverage. The shifting and clearing will continue overnight to focus on the greatest need. WSDOT has more than 100 trucks on the road.

“We continue to hit the priority roads with everything we have: de-icer, anti-icer, plows, loaders, and snow plows. Our goal is to get the roads back in shape before the morning commute,” said Dave McCormick, Assistant Regional Administrator for Operations.

Crews will use the morning hours to restock materials in the maintenance yards as well.

We will continue to staff our traffic management center overnight with operations engineers. Communications staff is on-call as well.

Temperatures are expected to drop into the teens overnight, creating black ice conditions. While WSDOT crews continue to work the roads, they can’t be everywhere all the time. WSDOT needs drivers’ help.

“Please continue to check weather and road conditions before you head out in the morning,” said Chris Christopher.

Know before you go
It’s clear drivers are taking that extra step to check road conditions. WSDOT has had a record-setting day on the web. At 2:56 p.m. visitors helped break the previous one-day page views record of 6.2 million set on Dec. 18, 2008.
www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/

Drivers can help make a difference in the Tuesday morning commute.

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