The relentless wave of storms that have hit Snohomish County this winter have bowled over hundreds of trees, which blocked many roads and took down power lines that cut off electricity to thousands.
After each storm, Snohomish County PUD and county and city public works crews would rush in, buzz the trees into pieces and drag them out of the way.
The power would be restored and the roads reopened.
The trees, however, were left behind on the sides of the roads, burying with limbs and branches the road shoulders used by many for walking and biking.
Quick-thinking firewood hunters scooped up most of the larger pieces of wood, but the bulk of the debris is still out there.
“They may not be in the road, but they are right there on the shoulder,” said Mona Bishop of Stanwood. “Whose responsibility is it to clean this up?”
Not the PUD’s, said utility spokesman Neil Neroutsos.
“Our main priority following a major storm is to get power restored,” he said. “If there are branches or treetops on a roadside, it is the responsibility of the agency that owns or maintains the property to clear the debris.”
That could be the state, county or a city.
“We’re going to be working our way through the county with our tree crews cleaning it up,” said Roy Scalf, an operations manager for Snohomish County’s road maintenance division. “We’ve been so slammed with the weather, that just we haven’t been able to stay on it.”
Mailbox gate
First the U.S. Postal Service smacked me down for trying to help my postal carrier by moving my mailbox so that it wasn’t only two inches off the ground. They said move it back to its original location or never get a piece of mail delivered to my house again.
Then Herald readers who didn’t like how I picked on the downtrodden people who bring me my mail in cold, rain and snow, slapped me again.
All for naught, I say.
By the time last week’s column had run, I had moved my mailbox back to its original location and I put it on a new, taller post. (In truth, I didn’t want to contribute to my mail carrier’s bad back. That’s why I moved my mailbox in the first place.)
The cost of fixing the problem: $12 for a new post, $6 for some tar, and some sweat to install it.
Knowing that my postal worker’s back is OK, that the federal government wins again and that fans of postal workers will go home happy: Priceless.
Road needs restriping
Question: If you’ve ever driven north or south on Fourth Avenue W. across Evergreen Way, you’ll notice that the intersection is misaligned.
Anyone who doesn’t use the intersection regularly invariably drifts into the other lane. I have stopped counting how many times I’ve had somebody encroach into my lane.
Can the city install raised buttons or paint dash marks to get drivers through?
Steve West, Everett
Answer: This is an excellent suggestion. We reviewed the intersection and agree with the reader’s observations. We will re-stripe this intersection in the spring.
Dongho Chang, state traffic engineer
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