West Seattle Weather Watch: Beware of persistent road ice

| Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

People who live in the 6000-6200 block of Beach Drive (map), by the slope that’s seen two slides in the past year, put out the alert on this; we went by for a photo, and it truly is the worst icy patch we’ve seen so far – it stretches a ways, and there’s a bend to its south, so you might come hurtling along without knowing you’re about to hit a long icy patch covering the entire road. This spot is shady all day long, too, because of the slope on one side and trees on the other, so until the air warms in a big way, it may not melt much. Wherever you go, beware ice – especially on the roadsides – almost anywhere in the shade. Rain and temperatures in the 40s may return Tuesday, per the newest forecast. P.S. (added 2:45 pm) Weather-related reminder: There’s a Stage 1 burn ban right now, which means no fires in your fireplace or wood stove unless you have no other way to keep warm, and also means no outdoor fires (beach, or otherwise).

ADDED 10:34 PM: We don’t know yet if it’s been blamed on the ice, but there’s been a crash within the past half-hour on that exact stretch of Beach Drive – reported as 5900 block, with scanner traffic discussing the significant ice on the road. No serious injuries reported.

CB January 2, 2011 (1:28 pm)

Why are these roads not getting salted? There terrible ice on SW Cloverdale too on the shady side.

JB January 2, 2011 (1:33 pm)

@CB – Why haven’t you and your neighbors salted that shady patch on SW Cloverdale? You’ve only been looking at it for three days now. FWIW, in places where snow and ice are part of the winter, people tend to take initiative on things like that themselves.

sam-c January 2, 2011 (5:04 pm)

it’s pretty icy at 18th and Brandon too, but it seems like somebody has sanded it, so it is about 3 inches of sandy slush instead. unfortunately it will not be that great in the morning.

CB January 2, 2011 (7:14 pm)

JB, I pay property taxes to the city of Seattle for basic services like SALTING THE ROAD. Besides, I don’t have a 100lb bag of salt on hand for all of SW Cloverdale.

toddinwestwood January 2, 2011 (7:48 pm)

I guess I am glad I didnt take that way home on my motorcycle Saturday afternoon.

JB January 2, 2011 (7:58 pm)

Yes, CB, you pay the 43rd lowest property taxes among major US cities in all 50 states. And that gets us 26 plows that sit idle for about 95% of the year and a Department of Transportation that reserves the use of sand and salt for weather emergencies. If you see something that needs doing in your neighborhood, then do it. If it’s too big for you alone, then talk to your neighbors. Seems to me that people in Seattle have some high expectations about what “the city” should do, and “the city”‘s record for doing them is mediocre at best. Now, if you want to complain about potholes…oh we can complain about potholes ’till the cows come home, because I live on Delridge Way. But when it comes to walking down the street and spreading some sand and salt, or better yet, cleaning the gutters so water doesn’t sit overnight and become a sheet of ice; we citizens need to get off our behinds and get the job done.

rachel January 2, 2011 (8:09 pm)

Just curious, has anyone tried just calling the city? I doubt they’re trolling residential streets looking for patches of ice, but maybe they’d respond to a report (or multiple reports) of dangerous spots? Just a different “initiative” residents maybe could try.

bridge to somewhere January 2, 2011 (8:34 pm)

Hey JB, why don’t you get some asphalt and fix those potholes in front of your house? ;-)

bridge to somewhere January 2, 2011 (8:49 pm)

And by the way, as someone from a Midwestern town that gets positively blanketed in snow every winter, I can say that regular citizens never pitched in to salt roads or shovel streets. Are you from a town that did that JB? I’m curious as to where that was.

derek January 3, 2011 (9:52 am)

As someone who has spent a vast majority of his life in various Midwestern towns, I can also say that I never had to buy a bag of ice melt to use on the road in front of my house. Perhaps JB is thinking of some sort of Third World Country.

I also second the “call the city” comment above.

Genesee Hill January 3, 2011 (1:22 pm)

Maybe JB just got sick of people complaining. As I have said before, I have had GOOD response when I have called SDOT. For example, I have called SDOT about the overgrowth on the sidewalk on SW Jacobsen every late spring for the past four years. It has been cut and cleaned up within a week of my calling each time…

JB January 3, 2011 (1:31 pm)

@bridge to somewhere. I grew up in upstate NY right along the lake (Ontario). The snow management routine involved digging your drive, sidewalk, any fire hydrants nearby, and the “gray zone” where your driveway meets the road. That last one is the hardest part. Every time the plow comes by it leaves several inches to a foot of mixed snow and ice that is too heavy for a blower/thrower to handle. Our neighborhood usually paid a nearby farmer to do our sidewalks with a tractor. It’s also standard procedure to sand and salt any wet/icy areas (including the road) on clear days, so they didn’t turn to black ice overnight. Of course, we could get 25+ lb bags or rock salt or calcium chloride at the grocery store starting in November, and nobody could ever grow anything in their parking strip come spring…

bridge to somewhere January 3, 2011 (4:55 pm)

@jb: ya, we had a similar experience then: the city/county did all the road salting and plowing, and homeowners would do the sidewalks and driveways and around their own mailboxes (and those of the aged) so the mailman could get to them (and, of course, we’d have to shovel out the huge mound of snow pushed into the driveway entrances by the city snowplows–that was always a mess!)