Here’s a thought to hang onto while slip- sliding down icy streets: It could be worse.
“I spent over a decade in the Midwest, driving in Milwaukee winters,” said Hank Isaac, 61. “One time the car stopped because the fuel line froze. It was 86 below with the wind chill — minus 26 degrees without wind chill,” said the Everett man. In a Midwestern white-out, he said, “with the snow blowing, you cannot tell where you are or which direction you’re going.”
Feeling better? Safer?
As a native of Spokane, where snow plows are out with such regularity that residents know to move cars off the streets on odd or even-numbered nights, I haven’t been feeling too safe lately. Days after the snowfall Saturday night, with more snow in the forecast, many of Everett’s streets were still coated with thick slabs of ice Tuesday.
I haven’t seen a plow in town all week, although city spokeswoman Kate Reardon said Tuesday that Everett has seven sander-plows and two road graders.
Reardon said Everett’s road crews have been working 12-hour shifts since Saturday night. First they focused on main arterials, near the Boeing plant, the Everett Mall area, Marine View Drive and Everett Avenue. Since late Saturday, Reardon said, city crews have put out 1,118 yards of sand, and have sanded 1,398 miles of roads.
There are 16 crew members on each 12-hour shift, and each shift can cover 300 miles of roads, she said.
Once arterials are covered, crews move onto neighborhood streets. Still, icy places will be perilous when covered by any fresh snow. “It’s going to be like an ice rink,” Reardon said.
Unlike some cities and agencies, Reardon said, Everett doesn’t use de-icing chemicals. “We’ve always stuck with our sand mixture,” she said. Everett buys 2,000 yards of washed, coarse sand from local suppliers and 300 yards of salt each year, she said. The city uses a mix of 8 yards of sand and 1 yard of salt.
In Marysville, street maintenance supervisor Burt Gunderson said crews started Saturday night by sanding hills and main roads. By Tuesday, they were adding a “pre-wet” mix of chlorine, magnesium and acetate.
“The state and county use that,” Gunderson said. He said it’s important to use the same chemical de-icer as other agencies in places where coverage overlaps, such as Highway 528 through Marysville. When de-ice compounds are different, it can create a gel making surfaces slicker, he said.
“Snow equipment is like insurance,” he said. “Some years, it sits more than 90 percent of the time. In a year like this, you’re happy you’ve got it.”
Both Gunderson and Reardon said this cold and snow is well-timed. Current snow-related costs will come from 2008 coffers and won’t cut into next year’s city budgets. “If we have a bad year from January to March, it can eat up a budget really fast,” Gunderson said.
Whatever the rest of the week brings, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said drivers should be very careful on hills and shaded areas. “With temperatures as low as they are, a lot of ice is not melting off the roadway,” said Goetz, spokesman for the Everett Police Department.
“Going from sun to shade, drivers are lulled into a false sense of security. Areas that melt can refreeze, causing black ice,” he said. Goetz also said that drivers unlucky enough to be in collisions should move cars off the road as quickly as possible, unless people are injured.
Roads aren’t the only slick surfaces. Reardon said homeowners and businesses are responsible for keeping sidewalks clear of snow.
Isaac is glad to be out of the Midwestern deep freeze, but he’s unimpressed by the snow driving skills in Western Washington.
“In this part of the country, drivers don’t get a lot of practice,” Isaac said. By the time they get used to snow, he said, “it’s either gone or they’re watching their car being fixed in a repair shop.”
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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