(Photo tweeted by Mayor’s Office)
3:16 PM: Five SDOT vehicles now comprise the fleet of a new “Response Team” aimed at clearing traffic-blocking incidents more quickly, as announced by the mayor today at a media briefing in Lake Union. From the ensuing news release:
As Seattle prepares for a new era of tough traffic beginning with the permanent closure of the SR 99 viaduct on January 11, 2019 and continuing over the next several years, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan today announced the launch of the Seattle Department of Transportation’s (SDOT) new Response Team to help stranded drivers and clear debris and vehicles so people and goods can keep moving.
The SDOT Response Team (SRT) will operate City-wide, 24 hours a day, and seven days a week, with new response trucks equipped with red lights, sirens, and digital messaging signs. The Response Team will work to promptly remove debris in the street; move vehicles out of the traffic lane following a crash; assist stranded motorists; respond to traffic signal issues and fallen critical signs; and provide emergency traffic control during incidents. The SDOT Response Team will focus on Seattle’s busy arterial streets, working with WSDOT Incident Response teams and King County traffic safety crews, who work on state and county roads.
(SDOT photo)
The five-vehicle fleet of response vehicles each come prepared with tow ropes; traffic cones; fluorescent pink incident warning signs; saws to clear tree limbs; absorbent material to clear spills; fire extinguishers; jacks to change flat tires; battery jump starters; and GoJaks – which allow one person to lift a car’s tires off the ground, and push the car out of the way. The SDOT Response Team also leverages smart investments, such as the City’s Intelligent Transportation System technology and the recently expanded Seattle Transportation Operations Center. …
The Federal Highway Administration established bright florescent pink as the color for signs indicating an incident, making them easy to distinguish from the familiar orange construction signs. One way to remember this is that when you see pink, think compassion, because someone is involved in an incident up ahead.
To guide the growth of the SDOT Response Team, the City hired traffic incident management veteran and former police officer Patricia Westsik. The SDOT Response Team has been trained to deal with crashes and other traffic incidents; Washington State Patrol defensive driving training; basic and intermediate chainsaw training; and training to earn certification on managing traffic around incidents. …
We have a couple followup questions out to the city – such as, where will the vehicles be based when waiting for dispatch – and will update when answers are in.
ADDED 8:43 PM: SDOT’s Dawn Schellenberg answered our questions. We wondered about the cost; estimated at “just over $1 million covering staffing, vehicle maintenance/replacement, training and software upgrades. The program is funded through the General Fund.” The five vehicles/crews will be on staggered schedules to cover 24/7. And as for where they’ll be based/dispatched from: “The SDOT Response Team is dispatched out of Charles Street. During peak hours, we typically preposition in the south end near the West Seattle Bridge/Alaskan Way Viaduct, and the north end near Aurora. During non-peak times, responders can be dispatched to specific sites and patrol citywide.”
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