36 Replies to "VIDEO: City briefing, with updates including request for you to help clear sidewalks near schools"

• Mj February 13, 2019 (12:39 pm)

  I would expand Mayor Durkins request to all sidewalks, students walking to school need all sidewalks cleared!

  • Tracey February 13, 2019 (1:49 pm)

    I talked to SDOT today about all the unshoveled sidewalks.  They said, while it is the responsibility of the adjacent property owners to keep sidewalks clear, the city has no process to enforce its own ordinance.  The sole purpose of the city ordinance is to transfer liability in case of a fall but they do not issue warnings or fines.  

• dunnkld February 13, 2019 (1:20 pm)

  I find it curious there has been no announcement about the construction status of the Hwy 99 Dearborn exit ramp. Was it delayed due to the storms? Maybe I missed it, or maybe the snow stories just put it out of everyone’s mind..

  • WSB February 13, 2019 (1:25 pm)

    Not a city thing, a state project, but actually I checked on that (as promised in our morning coverage) and am writing a separate story about that and Viaduct demolition shortly. Short version: Snow delay. Probably not open before next week.

• anonyme February 13, 2019 (1:24 pm)

  Students are not the only ones who need safe sidewalks, Mayor Durkan, nor do I understand why SPS isn’t shoveling school sidewalks.  Is it not their legal liability, as any other property owner?  I am a senior female, yet managed to shovel sidewalks around my home three times during the storms. Several of the people shoveling near me were gray-haired like myself.  No help offered from the young folks; it appeared to be working the other way around!  Even worse, a young man exiting the bus with his dog DEMANDED that I step aside into a snowbank so that he and his dog could use the narrow, cleared area without having to step on any snow, becoming quite belligerent when I refused.  While not completely surprised at the ageist contempt that is endemic in Seattle, I was surprised at the number of businesses and apartment/condo complexes that made no effort to clear sidewalks, despite having on-site managers and/or maintenance personnel.

• KM February 13, 2019 (1:34 pm)

  I hope SDOT comes up with a more comprehensive plan to improve sidewalk access in future storms whenever possible. Asking those in the neighborhood to clear public properties is not a strategy. I have cleared the sidewalks around my home, as well as the storm drains, more than once. Curb cuts remain inaccessible as does all sidewalks at the school nearby (just walked by in the street to avoid slipping). Storm transportation responses need to include pedestrians and cyclists. 

  • Gene February 13, 2019 (1:55 pm)

    That will never happen. How do you sand & plow streets without snow being pushed to sides- covering bike lanes? How many employees would it take to get out & clear sidewalks for pedestrians? 

  • Tracey February 13, 2019 (2:00 pm)

    Agreed KM.  Seattle had better hope climate change is a myth if this storm is any example.  The “It will melt in a few days” attitude might not cut it anymore. 

  • carol February 13, 2019 (2:02 pm)

    I have to agree with KM. not sure why the city or school district doesn’t have a plan to clear sidewalks for their property.On a different note, I have been amazed at the number of businesses that have not cleaned up-do they want customers or not?

  • CAM February 13, 2019 (2:34 pm)

    Every place I have ever lived both in this country and outside of it has required homeowners to maintain the sidewalks in front of their property. That includes making them walkable in the event of snow or ice. Why should Seattle have a different standard? The vast majority of people are perfectly capable of shoveling. It appears they just don’t see it as a priority or their responsibility. The number of sidewalks unshoveled (at all) after 4 days of snowfall is ridiculous and has nothing to do with people being disabled, elderly, or in any other way physically incapable of doing the job. 

    • KM February 13, 2019 (3:45 pm)

      CAM, I hear you, and I might be thinking of it differently. By the city deciding that minding public walkways, constructed by the city, is the job of the homeowner or occupant in the adjacent property, they have skirted responsibility of providing basic maintenance for pedestrians, cyclists, and those with limited mobility who use sidewalks. They don’t do this for roadways. Today, they double-downed and asked residents to take care of school sidewalks too, because they don’t have a plan for most public walkways in the city, except for downtown and pedestrian overpasses, according to an article in today’s Seattle Times. It implies they either don’t plan, don’t care about non-motorized transportation, don’t take climate change seriously, don’t take the ADA seriously, etc–or a combination of some or all. We are a city that has been sued by the ADA for failure to comply with basic curb cuts, I’m not expecting SDOT to consider a holistic approach to transportation any time soon unfortunately. I’m impressed with the SDOT employees working hard during this storm to take care of some of the roads. They aren’t responsible for the inequity in storm response plans, leadership is.

      • CAM February 13, 2019 (6:27 pm)

        I get what you’re saying and I agree that the city needs to take responsibility for maintaining the areas around schools, other public buildings, roadways, and biking corridors. I’m frustrated because I haven’t been able to get really anywhere either on foot or by car because of the state of the sidewalks and roadways. I don’t want to pay the city money to clear the sidewalk in front of private businesses or homes because I think that’s a waste. That is something that most people can do for themselves and shouldn’t need too much encouragement to do. Other cities manage this stuff on a regular basis by creating and enforcing regulations in the event of a major snow fall. Such as, having snow routes designated that don’t allow parking when over a certain amount of snow has fallen, having street parking restricted at least one day a week on a rotating schedule to allow for street cleaning or snow removal, fining and ticketing people and businesses that do not maintain their property, etc. Even the most basic level of enforcement from the city would accomplish so much. 

        • KM February 13, 2019 (7:14 pm)

          Such a great point on enforcement. It seems the city is so far behind on this, not just on sidewalks, but on many, many things. *SIGH*

        • MNW February 13, 2019 (7:41 pm)

          Agreed. Without enforcement no one will do it or take it seriously. Same goes with off leash dogs etc. I LOVE snow but my excitement quickly faded when I experienced how treacherous it was just trying to get around. As for the schools- they should absolutely be responsible for hiring someone to clear the sidewalks. The city making a plea for help from the public is ridiculous. 

• dcn February 13, 2019 (2:06 pm)

  I’m curious about mail delivery. I haven’t received any mail since last Friday, even though I’m on a flat street with shoveled sidewalks, just off Thistle. Nothing is urgent, but I have been expecting one piece of mail that should have been delivered on Saturday. My guess is that USPS is short-staffed, but you’d think they’d have a rotating delivery plan, like garbage pickup is doing. 

• Chris Hoffman February 13, 2019 (2:21 pm)

  This whole sidewalk debate is perplexing. We have a snowstorm that requires shoveling once or maybe twice a year at most. It’s really not too much to ask for everyone to shovel in front of their properties (assuming you are healthy and not too old). There are plenty of people in my neighborhood who are capable but that don’t do it, even after seeing others out shoveling away.

• MBH February 13, 2019 (2:38 pm)

  Re:  home and business owners requirement to clear snow from sidewalks, the owner is responsible for snow clearing and actually for all maintenance of that sidewalk.  It is on the owners property after all.  I’ve seen numerous cases where clearly capable home and business owners have made no effort to address clearing the snow.  From what I see it could be a majority.  I’ve seen multiple cases where snow is shoveled (not plowed)  from the street onto the sidewalk creating 3 or 4 foot high mounds on the sidewalk blocking pedestrian traffic.  It’s great to ask for people to pitch in, but it would also be great for those who are capable to make an effort to address their own.  There is too much snow and it’s not warming quick enough for the issue to resolve itself quickly.  I’ve lived in a number of very snowy places, and home and business owners have always been responsible for clearing snow from sidewalks, not the municipality.  

• Thomas Wood February 13, 2019 (3:11 pm)

  So the city says you can drop your compost and recycling off at the transfer station off no charge Really? How about the three weeks no trash was picked up compost will be one month as will recycling. How about a credit on my bill for services not recived

• chemist February 13, 2019 (3:22 pm)

  I had my full yard waste container out on Sunday evening for Monday’s pickup 2/4.  Then it was cancelled and I dragged it back in.  I put that same yard waste container out yesterday for today’s delayed Monday pickup, but only garbage and recycling was picked up (yay on getting those picked up).  It sounds like that’s consistent with the priorities expressed in this press conference.  Are Monday folks getting a refund for the half-month of yard waste charges with no pick-up?  Maybe coupons for “free” bags later?

• Curious minds want to know! February 13, 2019 (3:43 pm)

  “…Mami Hara reiterated the info from earlier about catching up on Monday/Tuesday solid-waste customers today,…”So, what’s the plan if they don’t “catch up” on Monday/Tuesday solid-waste customers today??  Do we go to the end of the line??  Several commenters have said that they aren’t picking up in alleys as appears the case in my alley?  Why didn’t they make some comment or announcement on only picking up from the streets?   I’d ask SPU but when I reported a missed collection on 2/5 the entire e-mailed response was “Thank you for your request”.

  • Victoria Kitts February 13, 2019 (5:18 pm)

    We are a Monday collection neighborhood, and nothing was picked up today, not even garbage as promised. We shoveled out the end of the alley to provide access to trucks, to no avail. Fingers crossed for week number 3 next Monday. 

• waikikigirl February 13, 2019 (3:46 pm)

  Yes it would be nice for the sidewalks to be shoveled but instead of moaning and groaning about it in post after post think of something else like how lucky you are not to one of those persons living in a tarp/tent on the side of 509/ 1st Ave Bridge or that you need to do laundry, get dinner started, make sure the kiddos are doing homework or some reading???Geez this is sad how people use so much energy being negative.   

  • heartless February 13, 2019 (7:41 pm)

    On a blog post SPECIFICALLY ABOUT shoveling sidewalks, I think it’s more than fair to talk about shoveling sidewalks.  And if people are peeved that some are flouting the laws and making it really difficult for walkers?  I see absolutely no reason why those people should be lambasted or shamed by you.  This is not a comment section on an article about serious problems like homelessness–this is a comment section on an article about shoveling sidewalks.  And for you to end your post by chastising others for being negative?  Really?

    • CMT February 14, 2019 (6:30 am)

      waikikigirl’s post was prett mild – reminding people to focus on the positive.  And it’s true, even though it is an important issue, some posts do come across as having an underlying self-righteousness and blame/contempt for others that don’t meet their own standards – a not infrequent occurrence in the comments here.  Maybe people (like me) didn’t know it was there job to shovel the sidewalks in front of their homes.  Yes, it seems intuitive but this isn’t a frequent occurrence and many of us get wrapped up in our own lives and need to be told.  I think her point was to stop with the negative judgment.

    • waikikigirl February 14, 2019 (3:55 pm)

      @Heartless,  yes I may have chose the wrong blog post to make my opinion heard on the shoveling or the not shoveling, but reading post after post since the snow started of people not doing so I had to comment.As for chastising it wasn’t meant to sound that way, it was to have people think of the positives in life to be happy.

• Anu February 13, 2019 (3:47 pm)

  Shouldn’t this request be accompanied by action to salt as well? I’m not a snow expert so I may be wrong about this. Am always worried about the shoveling on our steep hills. If you shovel and then don’t put salt and it freezes overnight, isn’t there the risk of it turning into a thin sheet of ice? Again, hope I’m wrong about this!

• Gene February 13, 2019 (4:11 pm)

  Seattle is not generally what you’d call a very snowy place. Could be a reason why many don’t even own a snow shovel. By the time they think- wow maybe I need one either the stores are sold out or they can’t get to the store. Maybe the city can issue each home owner a snow shovel ( like they do garbage cans) or if not for free- add the cost to utility bill.Of course having one doesn’t guarantee it will get used- you can’t force someone to do the right thing & in many cases people just aren’t able. There’s really no way to monitor & fine either – if it’s even a fine-able offense. As for businesses – how about just going in & asking why they didn’t shovel the snow in front of their store- see what they say? One last word- there’s a difference between shoveling & really doing it right &  shoveling & leaving an icy slick- if it’s the latter I’d just as soon you don’t shovel at all- it’s easier ( for me anyway)to walk on the snow than the ice. 

• MSea February 13, 2019 (5:01 pm)

  I think it’s important to give credit where credit is due: Durkan and the City did a pretty good job of managing the storm and clearing main streets. I saw the snow plow coming through day and night up Oregon and down California. I drove by the Westwood station and there’s a truck stationed there to service busses with snow chains. Busses were running across the city fairly regularly. We’re not really equipped for this kind of event but it seems that things ran fairly well. Where I do take issue is that we never heard from Lisa Herbold. Maybe reaching out to WSB or other hyperlocal blogs to let West & South Seattle residents know what role she is playing in keeping things running but nothing. It’s like she’s not even trying. That election can’t come soon enough. 

  • CAM February 13, 2019 (6:29 pm)

    Ms. Herbold made several statements and advocated for increased services over the last week. This information is available from her Facebook page and I’m sure other sources. Not everything will be in the WSB no matter how comprehensive they are. 

• Busrider February 13, 2019 (5:34 pm)

  Businesses please don’t pile snow in the ADA stalls of a lot. 

  • EJ February 13, 2019 (7:20 pm)

    Wow. That’s a pretty epic fail.  🙁

• West Seattle Hipster February 13, 2019 (7:36 pm)

  If the sidewalk near the schools need to be cleared, why aren’t the students doing it?

• 1994 February 13, 2019 (8:35 pm)

  I had the same thought as WS Hipster. Kids are out of school, could grab a shovel, walk to the nearest school and shovel some snow. A community effort by all, for all.

• justme February 13, 2019 (8:51 pm)

  I finally had to walk to the junction today for supplies. I walked 6 blocks in the middle of the street (44th) because there were only 2 sections, or approximately 4 house lengths with cleared walkways.  It was surprising to say the least, and dangerous. We’re just not prepared for this much snow. Many homes don’t even own a snow shovel.

  • KBear February 13, 2019 (9:09 pm)

    If you own a home, you need to own a snow shovel. They’re not expensive, and they’re readily available anytime, except during a snowstorm. Not having a shovel is not an excuse for not clearing your sidewalks. 

• Apotheosis February 13, 2019 (9:21 pm)

  18th ave sw south of SW Myrtle is still full of snow/slush and a block from Sanislo Elementary. At least we have no sidewalks to worry about- kids will just be slipping down the street to school…

Sorry, comment time is over.