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1. java
   Member Profile

   3:30 AM: Hum of a big engine, flashing lights visible through the blinds. Fire truck? Police car? Nope - it's a street cleaner. On a residential road in the middle of the night? What the heck? Came back the other way about 20 minutes later. Bizarre...

   Posted 3 years ago #         

2. WSB
   Member Profile

   

   They've been doing this for the past few nights. Still cleaning up sand from the December snow. I've been mentioning it on Twitter because they've been up here (California/Thistle vicinity) almost nightly, around 1 am or so. Even published video the first night they showed (week or so ago).

   Posted 3 years ago #         

3. squareeyes
   Member Profile

   

   They hoovered my street around 3:00am last weekend. Didn't matter to me that it was noisy; I was so pleased that my street would finally be sand-free.

   Posted 3 years ago #         

4. clark5080
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   I always see them when I come home from work at 1:00 am

   Posted 3 years ago #         

5. west seattle golfer
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   I'm glad they are doing something. Here's a press release regarding it from a week ago : http://www.seattlechannel.org/news/detail.asp?ID=9292&Dept=19

   Posted 3 years ago #         

6. alki_2008
   Member Profile

   

   I think I've resigned myself to realizing that someone will complain no matter when it's done. If it's done during the day, then some people will complain that they're slowing traffic or whatever. If it's done during the night, then other people will complain that it's too noisy. There's really no way for everyone to be satisfied. :-( It's good that it's being done at all.

   It's been interesting to see some streets where there are spots still sandy because the sweeper had to go around a parked car. I hope the person that owns that car doesn't call the city to complain that there's still sand in that one area. Ugh!

   Posted 3 years ago #         

7. java
   Member Profile

   I am also glad that the streets are being (sort of) cleaned. I was feeling a tad bit irritable when I wrote the first post. I am one of those people who has trouble falling back asleep when something wakes me up. The street cleaner woke me up at 3:30, I tossed and turned until the alarm went off at 5:00 for work, hence my crabbiness about the situation.

   Another issue is that at night in my neighborhood (Genesee) most everyone is home and cars line the street. Since we did not get any advance notice that the street cleaning was going to happen, I watched as the guy just drove down the middle of the street, occasionally able to get near a curb (where the sand is) but mostly cleaning the middle of the street (where the sand isn't). To me, makes more sense to do this during the day when more of the cars are gone. Just sayin'...

   Posted 3 years ago #         

8. familyaffairgirls
   Member Profile

   We live in the south end of the alaska junction. For 2 days now they have had signs out not to park on the street from 10pm to 6am. As you all know there are many apartments down the line. So we are having to find parking. Theres never parking even in the day so all the cars that are there at night have to find parking up in the back roads. They still havent done the sweeping! Whats up with that. Mind you theres no dates on the boards either of WHEN they will be doing it!If they have the signs ALL up and down up to admiral why is admiral done? And not anyone south of them???? I dont care WHEN or What time it gets done. JUST DO IT so we dont have to walk 2 blocks at night just to get home

   Posted 3 years ago #         

9. Ken
   Member Profile

   

   Tom Rasmussen is part of SDOT oversight. I am not sure anyone can do anything with them since they seem to live in their own little world. When I pointed out that they had placed 24 signs on my street closing it entirely, with 6 different dates and times scribbled on the board, they either giggled or gave me a thousand yard stare like they could not decide what language I was speaking.

   They spent two days trying to vacuum the sand from the 06 snow/ice storm out of the porous street (the only one in seattle) and then gave it up as a Bad Idea. The porous street was no longer porous at either end due to the sanding of the hills in 06 after neighborhood residents had been trapped here due to the only level streets being closed (5 years of closed) Note this is two freakin years after the sand was dumped and two days before this years storm.

   So they sanded the whole street this year a couple of hours before the rain melted the first 6 inches. They did not sand it during the next two weeks of snow and icepack and no one is going to clean it up (I suspect) until the entire experimental street is damaged.

   Posted 3 years ago #         

10. CMP
    Member Profile

    @8: I live in the south end of the Junction too and those no parking overnight signs are annoying. I hope they're gone by the time I get home this evening because it's been a major inconvenience to anyone who has to park on the street.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

11. alki_2008
    Member Profile

    

    Is it just me - or is signage all over Seattle (or the entire state of Washington for that matter) just terrible?

    Dates with no times, or times with no dates. Signs for freeway exits that aren't placed in correct proximity to let you actually get to the exit safely. Etc...

    I don't know, but for me...the mere fact that I even notice poor signage as a sign that it's not good. In most other states that I've been to, then I've never thought "that sign is not helpful at all". Ugh!!! Now I'm rambling. :-p

    Posted 3 years ago #         

12. jschu
    Member Profile

    

    DOL don't get me started. We suffer from their rath. I can't understand how they operate. I see seattle DOL trucks parked and the crews eating all the time. get to work...i think they just count their hours till they are off. Anyone else notice this?

    Posted 3 years ago #         

13. Trisket
    Member Profile

    DOL? Department of Licensing?

    Posted 3 years ago #         

14. Trisket
    Member Profile

    Department of Labor?

    Posted 3 years ago #         

15. Trisket
    Member Profile

    Diocese of Lafayette?

    Posted 3 years ago #         

16. westseattledood
    Member Profile

    

    Department of Lights?

    Posted 3 years ago #         

17. Ken
    Member Profile

    

    I have had an idea for a coffee table book for many years, made up entirely of signs seen posted in and around Seattle.

    Having lived in many other states and cities, it is most noticeable to us transplants.

    I have been a cab driver in a couple of large cities and even memorized the street layout in Boston enough to pass a 4 hour test.

    But it took me several years to learn which traffic signs around Seattle I should ignore since their only obvious purpose was to route tourist into outlying areas of the city while using maps.

    I dare anyone to get on any ferry from I-5 using the existing signage. Sure we all know how to do it, but try just using the signs.

    The cover would be the classic SDOT "Road work ahead" sign which has fallen in the hole along with the "lane closed" sign.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

18. CMP
    Member Profile

    Good idea Ken. I swear the WDOT left a Kingdome directional sign up on I-5 and I-90 for YEARS after it came down...probably after Safeco and Qwest Field were completed. Then one day they finally disappeared. But back to the original post (kind of)...the No Parking signs were still on California yesterday, but I never heard any street sweepers last night. Anyone know what the signs are for and when they'll be removed?

    Posted 3 years ago #         

19. jschu
    Member Profile

    

    If they are still there and its past their date limit - you can park there.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

20. Ken
    Member Profile

    

    Well now. I have to pass on a tactic I have seen used here in WS quite a few times.

    I have never done so myself dontcha know... I spent 3k on building a fenced off-street parking lot off the ally to deal with the madness.

    I have seen neighbors pick up the sign and pitch it in the ditch. Of course around here (highpoint re-re-development) we have been subject to 7 solid years of construction by sadistic contractors, so there comes a point (to paraphrase Mencken) where ya gotta hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats.

    :)

    Posted 3 years ago #         

21. CMP
    Member Profile

    There is no date on the signs...that's why this is so irritating. They all say No Parking from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. Super helpful, that SDOT.

    Posted 3 years ago #         

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