WSDOT

Just thought I would rant here. I just got back from a 5 day trip in the Seattle/ Everett area visiting my mom and sister. It snowed and the roads were pretty icy, making it difficult to get around. I can't believe the lack of support from WSDOT. Its almost as if they did nothing as far as sanding and salting the roads. The road conditions were terrible and very unsafe. I know you guys get more rain than snow, but this was damn ridiculous. Not much at all seemed to be done besides I-5 and the like, but even that was minimal at best. A lot of the main roads didn't have much done to them. Seriously, were they caught off guard by this storm, or is this how things normally are? The trip to the airport wed. night at 4am was treacherous and dangerous. 2 inches of snow on the highway with black ice underneath. I did not see a sand/salt truck the entire way.

My sister is driving down to Eugene, Or on Christmas day in her Toyota Camry. You guys apparently have a blizzard coming in up their today or tomorrow, with conditions continuing into Christmas. My mom drove this same route last Sunday night and almost didn't make it. She saw cars going off into ditches, joining the many that were already thier.

Is WSDOT this icompetent and unprepared, or were they just caught off guard?

Cheney cranked up the weather machine and caught everyone off guard. They also didn't shed enough blood for oil, so the WSDOT trucks couldn't run. Halliburton owns all the salt and gravel mines, so because the contracts weren't awarded to them...this is the thanks we get.

Sorry I missed ya. I really wanted to crack your skull.

:rattle:

Meow?

-Alex

This is pretty normal. It isn't the east coast here. It is the wild west.

I know that the municipality that I work for has had some major budget cuts. And some of the first things to be cut was the snow removal budget and the sand/salt budget. Get used to it. I work for a city of 75,000 and we have 3 big plows and 3 pickup plows, all 6 have sanders and one de-ice truck. They can barely make a dent in the snow.

"Paved roads, another example of wasteful government spending" Truer then ever.

ECKSJAY said:

Cheney cranked up the weather machine and caught everyone off guard. They also didn't shed enough blood for oil, so the WSDOT trucks couldn't run. Halliburton owns all the salt and gravel mines, so because the contracts weren't awarded to them...this is the thanks we get.

Sorry I missed ya. I really wanted to crack your skull.

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What's with all the violence?

i thought we didnt salt here?????

Roads are fairly bad down here is true and this morning I saw many cars and trucks in ditches and freeway was crap. We dont get enough of it to justify massive crews and to be honest at least in vancouver things pretty much shut down on days like today. Outside my window I have an intersection and Im just watching fender benders, very entertaining.

Jester99 said:

What's with all the violence?

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Probably because of this nonsense you pulled: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=974106

Mc2KXJ said:

...And we did all that great research for him. 3 pages of completely useful travel information that never deviated from the topic.

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So far the only real rumble I've felt in the past few days was caused by a very fine bowl of chili. Still no tectonic event and it's a few days past the window.

The Western WA DOT gets called out about once every other year for any type of snow response and the weather event you got to enjoy is only compareable to a similar Arctic Air incursion from back in 1990 ( you were 5 so I'm not expecting you to remember). There is just not a good reason to have all the equipment sitting around rotting when it is not used on a regular basis.

Jester99 said:

What's with all the violence?

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It's a figure of speech. I wanted to see if you were as retarded in person as you are online.

ECKSJAY said:

It's a figure of speech. I wanted to see if you were as retarded in person as you are online.

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Lolz :laugh2:

dellstopjeep said:

i thought we didnt salt here?????

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I KNOW City of Bellingham and Whatcom County both use salt. Not sure who else.

I am surprised though, as tight as the Salmon laws are. There will be a lot of salt in the local lakes and creeks once it warms up.

Having worked this storm throwing sand/salt down on intersections manually. I am convinced that salt doesn't work in this situation. It is too cold. We throw it down, the snow melts and then refreezes as ICE 20 mins. later.

I think that people just need to learn how to drive or stay home if they are not prepared. I have seen SO many stuck vehicles with either under prepared drivers or just plain bad drivers. It doesn't seem to matter what they are driving. (AWD, 4x4, FWD, or RWD)

~Scott
http://img514.imageshack.us/my.php?image=312036659990c4e32be6oke0.jpg

eastern wa we use cinder and whatever else they decide to.

was watchin the news the other day...they are making some new stuff w/ the byproduct of the big dairygold plant in Sunnyside....:huh: but i guess as long as it works.....

Sorry, this isnt the east coast, midwest, or south. when it snows here, we shut down and enjoy it!
I know for a fact Oregon does NOT use salt. its not worth it. If you cant make it, dont try. I know i sure in the hell wouldn't advise a family member to drive from seattle to eugene in a camry with these conditions. to spend the millions it would take to prepare for this type of storm is a waist, i think the last time we had a storm close to this was in 2004, we are lucky to see it this good every 4 years..

Jester99 said:

What's with all the violence?

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Comes with the Teritory.

Besides the ice layer beneath that the plows cant cut into, the roads up in my area (Everett, Mukilteo) were decent. You just need to know how to drive in this stuff, and you have to be able to know your vehicle well enough to know how to control it and what its limits are. I drove home last night with the blizzard conditions and a good 6-8 inches already on the ground, and only put my Jeep into 4wd on one or two uphill spots.

As Hans pointed out, we simply do not have enough trucks to keep the roads clear, as you would expect in other parts of the country. Something I find amusing is that when I leave to go snowboarding and there is a good amount of snow down here, the roads always get better the farther along hwy2 I go, untill about the train tunnel or so. In the lowlands we just simply arent ready for this kind of weather.

-Lyle

P.S. Now that I think of it, maybe I should contribute to the aid by getting my grandpa's plow over here from Spokane. Before he past away, he had an MJ that he mounted a plow head on the front of and used to clear his company property.

nw-xj-scott said:

Sorry, this isnt the east coast, midwest, or south. when it snows here, we shut down and enjoy it!
I know for a fact Oregon does NOT use salt. its not worth it. If you cant make it, dont try. I know i sure in the hell wouldn't advise a family member to drive from seattle to eugene in a camry with these conditions. to spend the millions it would take to prepare for this type of storm is a waist, i think the last time we had a storm close to this was in 2004, we are lucky to see it this good every 4 years..

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you are correct, Oregon does not use salt, as in white rock salt like in the midwest/east coast, they use a liquid salt based de-icing solution.

They do not use any salt based chemicals actually.

Motorists who’ve driven in other states during snowy weather may be wondering why there aren’t big trucks out salting the roads to melt the ice. Well, here’s the answer:

The Oregon Department of Transportation doesn’t use salt because it can have detrimental effects. Salt, rock salt, or road salt are the common terms for a product traditionally used in the Midwest and eastern United States. While road salt is an effective tool for melting snow and ice, it also causes severe rust damage to vehicles, degrades the road surface, corrodes bridges and may harm roadside vegetation.

What does the state do to icy roads?

According to its Web site, ODOT winter maintenance practices include plowing, sanding to improve traction and applying winter anti-icing liquids (magnesium chloride). Winter liquids are used to melt snow and ice on the road surface, to help prevent snow and ice from sticking to the road and in conjunction with sand to help the sand stick to icy roads. The combination of practices used at each site may vary to accommodate the different climate, traffic and storm conditions.

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http://www.tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=122962510838794300

Doyle said:

you are correct, Oregon does not use salt, as in white rock salt like in the midwest/east coast, they use a liquid salt based de-icing solution.

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nw-xj-scott said:

They do not use any salt based chemicals actually.

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Magnesium chloride is a type of salt, usually in a liquid form as Doyle said. :rof: It's just not as harsh on things like rock or white sale...as he also said.

nw-xj-scott said:

They do not use any salt based chemicals actually.http://www.tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=122962510838794300

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ODOT may not, but that doesn't mean that every other municipality doesn't either. (IE city, county, private) I would advise everyone to wash their vehicles once the snow has been gone for a couple of days. I know my jeep has a nice thick layer of dried salt crust on it.