Whether you’re putting your trust in the National Weather Service or UWÂ Professor of Atmospheric Sciences Cliff Mass, there’s no denyin’ that there’s gonna be more snow in the next couple days.
In case you need to travel to and/or from Northeast Seattle during the snow, you’ll want to know which roads are being kept clear by Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crews, and which are not.
NE portion of SDOT's snow route service map - click to enlarge
To the right is a portion of SDOT’s snow map, focused on Northeast Seattle (full map here; 810 KB PDF). There are three different street service levels assigned to those arterial streets which are the busiest, connect neighborhoods with downtown, are used by transit and public safety agencies (police, fire), and reach schools and hospitals.
These different levels are to let users know which routes are being serviced and what conditions to expect. They are not prioritized — road servicing is ongoing at all levels as needed.
The different levels as shown on the map are:
Level 1 (yellow) -ALL lanes bare and wet
Level 2 (blue) – ONE lane each direction bare and wet
Level 3 (green) – Curves, hills and stopping zones treated
You can find Seattle’s Winter Weather Readiness and Response Plan here, which includes road treatment descriptions, facility and fleet information, links to city communication tools, and more.
As for tips on how to drive in the snow, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has a few to read, or watch on YouTube.
Take Winter By Storm’s website has lots of checklists you can use to be fully prepared both on the road and at home.
And then there’s PEMCO Insurance’s “The right way to abandon your car in a snowstorm.” You may want to print that one out to stick in your glove compartment, just in case.
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UPDATE (Wednesday, 9:43 AM): City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw just tweeted out a great link for those us us curious about road conditions in Northeast Seattle AND citywide.
SDOT's Winter Weather map page (static screengrab taken Wednesday morning) -- click to go to the site
SDOT’s Winter Weather map shows which streets have been treated and/or plowed, and how long ago they were last serviced.
Different parts of the city can be selected from a dropdown menu at the top-right of the page (“Select Neighborhood”). Different road service levels are shown in different colors, as well as the different types of service (liquid de-icer vs. plows with and without salt spreaders).
Nifty map aside, we recommend drivers check out road conditions locally for themselves before heading out.
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