I don't think so. Even though this kind of snow is not the normal, I think it is like any act of nature can be, a disaster. Why are they not prepared for something like this? Jobs that demand you get to work or be fined or fired do not help. We are told stay home if you can by the news crews, and WSDOT, but.. do you really think we can?

I do think as well that personal responsibility in having chains, or studded tires, or both is essential. As well as scrapers, de-icers and snow shovels. We the public can get out there and shovel and help as well. The apartment complex I live at didn't even shovel the driveway. So a few of the tenants, myself included, got out there and made it safe to get out of.

Regardless I think City officials are not doing all they can. In my opinion they were waiting for it to melt, but snow that deep just compacts and turns to ice before it melts and that is what most of us are dealing with, not on the major roads, but on all the side streets. Even the city of Woodinville has thick ice slabs on thier roads from 4 to 5 inches thick with huge potholes in it that we have to try and navigate around. People are still getting stuck, sliding off the road and having a lot of trouble. I say stop showing the news on the major roads and hold the cities accountable for the side roads as well.

As for the rest of us waiting for someone to do something about it, then go do something about it. Figure out a plan of action in your neighborhood of whom can help clear the roads, shovel walks, etc.

Somebody did mess up somewhere.

No. They are ill-prepared and inept. Having lived in New England and the Chicago area, I have seen some major storms over the years. In those places, as soon as snow begins to accumulate, snow plows with salt and sand are are on the streets. Huge amounts of snow may fall, but the streets are usually clear and wet, not frozen and treacherous. When the skies clear and the temperatures drop and everything else is frozen, the streets are safe for driving. Seattle and its surrounding communities seem more afraid of salt than ice and snow. Yesterday I drove to Alderwood Mall on SR 99. In places the road was so bumpy it was like driving on railroad ties. In my opinion, the Washington State Department of Transportation and its local counterparts are making things worse, not better.

In the late 1970's an unusually large snow storm hit Chicago. When the city failed to clear the snow from that storm as quickly as past storms, people called Chicago's Mayor, Michael Blandic, "the man in the empty suit." That pretty much describes the people who are responsible for cleaning up this mess. This is Seattle's Katrina.

No. The City of Seattle's response has been particularly bad. Their decision not to use salt on the roads or plow to the pavement makes no sense in these conditions. Under normal circumstances that it would be fine, but these are not normal circumstances.

Mayor Nickels and Ron Sims. They insist that it is important to have emergency plans for catastrophes and be prepare for disasters. Well this has been the proof of their incompetence to prove that we are ready for emergencies. They are probably sitting at home doing nothing. I did not see them taking the buses or public transportation that they strongly advocate to the point to force next year city people to do it. This is another proof of the selfish incompetence of our city and county governments. They only think for themselves, and this is proof to send them a message as we did with our president. Nickels needs to run for re-election, although I do not know who told Sims that his position is for life regardless of his incompetence at all levels. Simply solution , instead of King Metro having hundred of drivers reporting to work and sitting in their offices, why they are not driving buses. If they do not know the routes, put several buses to follow the driver that knows the route. I guarantee that the buses will be packed and happier people will be leaving in Seattle. Very simply for somebody that think on having solutions. Please Mayor Nickels and Ron Sims, stop talking and act, like mayor Blomberg he rides public transportation. He acts and show with example not with hot air empty words.

I say YES.. for what they have had to work with, I believe they have done the best they can. We only have 27 plow vehicles for the city of Seattle is almost half of what we need for a regular winter. Other cities that have the same population have twice as many. They also have the shortage of de-icer. So I believe they have done what they can.

I would love to express my appreciation for the job all road crews have done. I live in the foothills south of Issaquah. With a two wheel drive car I have not even used my chains and had no problem getting around. I spent two winters in Minnesota so I've seen the best. Our guys a right up there for an event we see every 20 years. Thanks guys and girls.
dave

YES.....! great job based on how often they have been possed with this type of problem to all the complainers go bury your head in the snow

I think useing rubber snow plow blades is stupid for the heavy snow. They would be great for lite power snow. You need the steel blade to grind up the ice.

It is too late in the game to use salt as Im sure city planners never stockpiled any to begin with.
They could still switch to the steel blades but now they are so far behind it reall wont matter until all this stuff melts.

Speaking of melt off better get busy on the sand bags NOW. O wait there is no sand left.

What is it with eco-freaky states like Washington that consider the environment above the safety of their citizens. Safety is leaving 3-4 inches of ice on all the streets in a major metropolitan city?
I am visiting from Montana and am amazed at the lack of responsibility by city, county and state officials in creating this fiasco. It's not like they haven't taxed everyone to death enough to have plenty of funds available for snow removal, but yet the streets remain treacherous.....
Thank my good fortune that I live in Montana where common sense prevails.

I don't think they're doing all they can! I live in Snohomish county and our roads are bare and wet - because they use SALT. It's fabulous stuff, works great, and for how often we use it in our area, I'm hard pressed to think that the environmental impacts are that significant.

Love the salt!

I lived in Chicago for many years, and they responded with plows quickly. Life went on. In Seattle, the city is not prepared nor adequately trained to handle this type of weather. I saw two plows in the Greenwood area. One was not plowing at all, and the driver of the other plow was not plowing correctly. And, to top it off, the driver was laughing on his cell phone while driving.

Tips from Chicago: plow earlier, tandum plow, plow correctly, hire private contractors to plow.

Other parts of the country have their share of bad weather, but people still go to work, they still go to school, and they still drive.

I do NOT think the cities, counties and states of Oregon and Washington have done all they can. Yes, with the equipment, crew & supplies available they're doing all they can. However, like an earlier comment, we're taxed a lot to upkeep the infrastructure in our states...one has to wonder where does all that money go? Not to snowplows...not to crew to run the snowplows... seems like there are a lot of people available (construction crews and the like) with big earth moving equipment that could be empowered to help out - yet our government doesn't have the money or refuses to contract out to these people who could actually help clear the roads.

I'm driving a 4x4, chains on all four tires and I'm still sliding in and out of 6" ruts. Even on the main streets! I'm in Portland Metro area and I find it ridiculous that we haven't thought about what global warming can do – create storms like this. For such an environmentally forward thinking area...they haven't thought about the safety of the drivers in their community.

Where were the plows yesterday when it was dry all day? Why weren't they out there plowing the main roads or the freeway? It's frustrating, realizing our governments are spending our tax dollars on crap programs rather than maintaining our infrastructure.

I lived in Chicago for many years, and they responded with plows quickly. Life went on. In Seattle, the city is not prepared nor adequately trained to handle this type of weather. I saw two plows in the Greenwood area. One was not plowing at all, and the driver of the other plow was not plowing correctly. And, to top it off, the driver was laughing on his cell phone while driving.

Tips from Chicago: plow earlier, tandum plow, plow correctly, hire private contractors to plow.

Other parts of the country have their share of bad weather, but people still go to work, they still go to school, and they still drive.

Let’s recap: The SDOT talking head seems very confused, i.e. save the trees, save the fish, save the birds, etc.etc.etc.etc..
It might be that tree he is hugging and got himself frozen to and caused his brain to freeze up????
Remember save the life, limb and sight priorities—that’s your job!!!! If you cannot do the job—the unemployment line starts in downtown Seattle—if you can get through the ice.
Maybe we can just google a solution.
Good luck
Mike

Our area's decision to not use salt on the roads is a big mistake. What is the salt going to do in the long run compared to the injuries to the people that could fix the problems. I think that if there had been salt used or even a plow, I might not have gotten a concussion last week after I slipped in the middle of the street.

I wonder if they saved the salt to increase their pay raise--after all we can blame it on global warming???
Lets hug another tree!!!

IMO, no.
While they have been attempting to clear main highways, their responses to getting even main arterials cleared so we could get to the highways is laughable. Especially Seattle, where they contend their decision to try and "pack down" the snow is the most absurd thing I've ever heard. In our area of Snohomish county, they spread some sand sporadically, without ever attempting to plow, which did nothing but spread it all over when the cars and trucks slid all the way down hills and simply created foot deep ruts of layers of ice!

Why would the state and counties even have plows w/ rubber mat blades? It helps little to take off the top layers of snow. It also was maddening that responses after dark seemed non-existent. I don't even get off work till 11:30 pm and my trips home at night were treacherous! After the evening commute, plows should have been out clearing the muck before things started freezing up!

I have yet to hear if the state's concoction of molasses, cheese whey and sand was effective.
But again, the responses have been less than impressive and frankly, since I moved in 1991, I've seen these "weather events" at least once a year and they should have better plans in place.

I am agasp at the incompetence of Washington governments to keep their citizens safe and businesses solvent. I wonder how much money local businesses have lost as customers are unable to travel for shopping. And how much productivity has been lost because employees are unable to make it to work for so many days at a time. I also wonder how much damage has been done to cars, buses, etc due to sliding into curbs, trees, other vehicles, rattling over the crazy slow/ice bumps -- not to mention situations like the 2 buses in Seattle which slide through a guardrail and dangled over I5.

With the large snow and ice storms we have seen over the past few years there is no excuse for lack of proper planning. And by "proper planning" I mean having a plan to quickly *eliminate* snow and ice from major arteries and common thoroughfares. This means plowing snow *off of the roads* and salting to melt and prevent ice. With the small number of storms that hit the region in any given year certainly salting won't devastate the environment.

People have to think about the fact that the Northwest doesn't normally have this volume of snow and ice; its not like its a normal yearly assurance for this state. I think for the warning they had, and what they have had to work with - they have done the best they could. I think everyone complaining should think about that before they get miffed over a little bit of a delay as the DOT tries to make it a little safer for both people working and last minute shoppers. Keep it Up, Folks - and ignore the haters.

Those men out there are working there hardest and all people want to do is complain about how things aren't getting done the way they want them to. Those men do't have to beout there making the roads safe they could be home with their families. So lets show them some apprecitation and gratitude and keep them safe on those roads by driving slower.

We are from the rocky mountain state of Colorado, where there has been a lot of experience gained in managing horrible road conditions. One thing I think might help is posting detour signs at the on-ramps when there is an expected lengthy delay ahead, back "home" in the Rockies we routinely close highways rather than have families with low gas in their tanks stuck for hours in the freezing traffic jam.

Our guys here are doing their best, I think they deserve our thanks! I sure could not do that job, could you?

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season with God's care and protection and abundance providing for all, in Jesus' Name! And all God's people said AMEN!

"Pastor Mom"

The men and women staffing the plows and response activities related to this storm have been working 24/7 in 12 hour shifts since the first snowfall of December 12th. They are tired but committed to doing everything they can to keep emergency response routes clear and community travel safe. Of course we are ill prepared for this weather. No way would the taxpayers support millions of dollars of additional equipment and supplies and people that would sit idle and unused through most winter seasons! Kudos to all the folks working round the clock this holiday season. They have families too - and I fear will see far less of them than they would like. They all deserve a huge thank you from all of us!

The men and women staffing the plows and sanders have been working 12 hour shifts, 24/7, since our initial snowfall on December 12th. They are tired and have foregone their own holiday traditions to ensure emergency response routes are clear and that community travel is as safe as can be under these conditions. Of course we are ill prepared for these conditions. No way would taxpayers tolerate, or want, cities or counties or the state to spend millions of dollars on equipment and supplies and staff that would sit idle through most seasons. Kudos to those working so hard to ensure my safety. Toni

I applaud the efforts of those working endless hours to clear the roads. Thank you to them for all of their hard work. I have found that different areas and roads are being dealt with very differently. The state highway, specifically I-90 has been in great shape throughtout the snow fall. I drove Seattle to Spokane after the first large snowfall and found the highway in excellent condition. My father drove it yesterday and said the exact same thing. I can not say the same for the local roads in Spokane and the City of Spokane Valley. The leadership and/or planning of these municipalities seems to be non-existant. This is really too bad because it seems that the citizens have been doing a great job of helping each other out and doing what they can to keep these cities and their businesses running in spite of this. It would be nice if the cities would step it up and assist in this effort.

Yes, and no. I-5 and roads like it are federally funded with crews receiving training and an actual budget. That was the "yes" part. City, county, district, or town roads are a vastly different story. Administrators/managers, this part is for you. It is unfair to expect all of the people to happily "chain-up" all the time. Can you picture your grandmother chaining-up? I think not. Snow and ice removal is what is supposed to be done. A budget and a payroll, for personel have been provided, USE THEM!!! We all know that budgets are severely "skewed" this time around. We all know that plow blades, sand/salt/overtime, are expensive. Drivers don't care about that. Drivers expect to see the plow coming down their street, with a loud and thunderous scraping noise. They expect to see sparks from the plow actually contacting the pavement! There will be no "ice ruts" if that is happening, and not "hovering the blade" over the roadway! Drivers get pissed-off when they see that on the news, or on the road! They expect to see large and profuse amounts of sand/salt/whatever blowing forcfully from the "spreading device!" We paid for that, not you! We all have seen sand trucks barely spitting less than a hand full of "stuff" out the back. Again, this pisses us off! Drivers expect not to see a berm or mound running down the center of the road, or turn-out lane. That part of the road is to be plowed also, and is traditionally done first. Pissed off! Take care of my road in front of my house, like you did your road in front of your house, damn it!

Not sure how many of you can say you've lived here for 54 years, as I have, since birth. That's only to say that I can hardly remember more than once or twice when we had road/weather conditions even similar to this

Two thoughts:

1) I think the media is doing a disservice to our DOT and city maintenance teams, even IMPLYING that they are somehow dropping the ball.

2) Listen people, if you expect the city/county to load up on snow removal equipment, where do you expect them to take the offset in the budget? I don't imagine you'd like to see your local taxes increased. There are always line item trade-offs. In my view, it would be the opposite of prudent for the cities to spend excessive amounts on the possible rare instances when we have winter storms of this magnitude.

People think that ODOT should be prepared for the 50 year storm and have all the equipment and personnel to make everything perfect, but when it comes time for funding, equipment purchases, and personnel allocations we scoff at the extra taxes. Do we as Oregonians really want to carry enough personnel and equipment every year on our dime so when the 50 year storm happens they are prepared? The public sector is a huge tax versus expediture balancing act...therefore we get caught in scenarios like we have had over the last 10 days without enough personnel, equipment or supplies..

I suppose everyone has their own perspective and experience. And no doubt the local media has some impact. There is not one local commercial news source that doesn't add unnecessary sensationalism to their broadcasts. Could I just hear ONE reporter say the word snow without some learned/embellished/hyped up tone?

Having said that, the roads that I've driven in Snohomish county, from Lake Stevens to Bothell/Kirkland daily for the past two weeks have been in decent shape, considering. The concentrations have been on the hills and more travelled roads, where it should be. For those that want more plows/salt/whatever, are you prepared to pay even more tax for that? Simple fact is we just don't have the justification for it. It doesn't snow like this very often. The folks doing the road clearing, do you think they are stupid? They are doing the best they can with what they have.

I think more time could be spent talking about the stupidity of many of the motorists driving in the snow. If your vehicle is not equipped for snow, get it equipped or stay off the road. Invest in snow tires. For gods sake clear your fricken windows off before heading out. And don't cut people off on the freeway, splashing rocks and slush all over others windshields. Oh, I forgot, these things would take some common sense, something sadly lacking for many.

So don't blame the government, I say. Take some responsibility!

To Jay,
Go live under a rock some place else. If elected officials can't make decisions, they need to join you in holding hands and singing khumbaya.

Frankly, they did a fine job with the assets they actually have. Most podunk cities in the midwest have more snow plows than King County does! If you want your tax dollars to buy more snow plows and responders, and less of something else like parks or libraries, talk to your elected officials.

The area is singularly unprepared for such weather. I've lived in east-coast Canada and the Midwest, and the response there is much better.

HOWEVER. Let's suppose that WSDOT had added 100 million into the budget to buy snow plows this summer, and wanted to increase the size of the road crew and offer training for plowing. They would have been roasted alive for suggesting spending money on such a stupid thing, since most years the plows would go unused.

Not so stupid now? Great. Talk to your representative if you want more of WA's money spent on road equipment and staffing. But be prepared for that money to come out of something else.

I applaud the city for making the choice to NOT use the types of chemicals that would continue the degration of the Sound. We already have a dead zone off Bainbridge island.

Not even close. I have lived in blizzard conditions for half the first 24 years of my life before moving to Portland, and I can't believe that anything more than an inch of snow shuts everything down.

The gutted ruts in the interstates and freeways around Portland are a joke. ODOT is a joke. They have the gall to talk on KGW news that their crews have been out 24/7 working; yet I was stuck in that fiasco on the I-5 / I-205 interchange near Wilsonville last night and seen one plow go by in the approx. 3 1/2 hrs I was sitting there.

I'll admit this is an atrocious winter in this region, but how the city responds to these types of weather events is completely uncalled for.

It's nice to see our tax dollars *real* hard at work alright.

I do believe the the crews out there are doing the best they can with what they have to work with, but Mayor Nickels give the city response a "B"? I give them a "D". The cost of using a little salt and metal snowplow blades for this "once in twenty years" storm is minor compared to the cost in safety, lost wages, lost work productivity, lost retail sales over the holiday season, debri clean up from accident and lost or broken chains, etc. etc. Many of the main arterials are in good shape. That is nice, if only you could get to them, and if you can, try to catch a bus. Additionally Metro has some explaining to do. So they miscalculated the timing of when to put chains on and take them off and put them on again. How is it that the stranded buses around town are still stranded 3 and 4 and 5 days after the storm? If the government has mostly "we will wait until it melts" strategy, fine...why spend alot on a snowplow that will sit unuse most of the time, but then you better have public transportation up and running. Unbelievable!

I have lived in Seattle since 1983 and have loved every minute of it. Until now! I am embarassed to be part of this city under the control of Mayor Greg Nickles. The Mayor has a personal agenda of becoming the nation's leading Enviromental Mayor and has placed his own fame and glory ahead of the residents of Seattle. The need for salt and proper equipment on the roads during this rare storm was more important to the local residents than the impact on the enviroment. In fact, the increased hours of cars on the roads idling and crawling to get around the horrible road conditions has created worse poliution than the effects of salt on the road once in 30 years. Maybe the Mayor was offered a free suite at the new Four Seasons or has a cushy apartment behind his office so he did not have to venture outside to go home except for a few media worthy piotures to show he "cares", but I doubt he felt the impact of slippery roads, rocky ice ruts or hours in the car for a typical few minute commute.

I believe the Mayor owns this community an aploogy and some financial relief as many businesses suffered as potential customers could not get out on the roads and many hourly workers lost large numbers of hours due to inability to get to work due to poorly cleared roadways. The Mayor should be ahamed of himself for his lack of good leaderhsip!

I find it hard to believe that the mayor truly believes what he is saying, without having a hidden agenda in his back pocket. I can't believe the extra efforts he was making in case of loss of power at local community centers and libraries. When all those people all ready have a roof over there head. He did not even think about opening those places for homeless people. No wonder he isn't a Rotarian...

I think the environment takes precidence over the residents and the residents take precidence over the homeless. Something is not right here.

P.S. Guess how half of our West Seattle neighborhood street became travelable after a week? Two middle-aged single female homeowners and one older male apartment manager shovelled it by hand over the last three days!

Ok, I want to say this, I appreciate very much that the drivers of the snow plows worked like they did. I am not complaining about that, this is the problem. When your boss says, it doesn't matter you have to be at work or lose your job and your stuck with having to drive on a six inch thick slab of compacted snow turning into ice with potholes (that cracked a guys axle in a fred meyer parking lot, I saw it happen) Then I say there is a problem with the trainging these guys got. You have to plow to the road and you have to plow the turn lanes as well as the regular lanes. I have to turn out of my driveway to the right, go down four blocks turn right again and then on around just to get to the other side of the road I could have just turned left on. It makes no sense to not clear the turn lanes or to not plow to the pavement. They plowed to the pavement on the highways and they are wonderfully clear! Excellant job on those, now how about the side streets and turn lanes. Thats not complaining that is just common sense.

No, Seattle has not done a good job of snow and ice removal. Futhermore, using the endangered salmon, is a joke. I was born and raised on the Clearwater River in Orofino Idaho. One of the worlds largest Steelhead and Salmon fish hatcheries is located at the mouth of the North Fork of the Clearwater River. State Hwy 12 winds along a 30+ mile stretch of Highway from Lewiston to Orofino and continueing on to Montana. The State of Idaho has used sand, gravel and/or mag chloride for over 30 years, without negative impact to the hatchery fish returns. In fact over the last several years the hatchery has experienced record returns. I wish our elected officials would step up and give legitimate reasons for not doing their jobs.

McMinnville, Oregon
We apparently have not one single snow plow in this town. The county "owns" HWY 99 so we cannot
plow (assuming we have one) the main highway. My daughters and I spent the night pushing vehicles out of the 8 inches of sloppy slush in front of our house. I have chains and studded tires on my car but the slush and ice in our neighborhood is so bad I cannot get out and if I did am unwilling to risk the loss of an oil pan. My daughter spent Christmas Eve helping a stranded motorist for 2 hours get chains on, I helped dig them out and got them on their way. I am told the highway has improved, no thanks to any crews but we are stuck in our neighborhood unable to get out to family regardless of everyone telling us that the entire area all the way to Salem is clear sailing. We are stuck until we get more melting.

Not a chance Mayor Nichols. Teresa's comments above are spot on suggesting that Seattle could use magnesium chloride (a.k.a. Mag) as a de-icer without impacting the salmon in Puget Sound. Mag is used all over the country without significant impact...its why they use it.
If anyone is truly concerned about getting Puget Sound Salmon off the Endangered Species list, then lets start with something that would really make a significant difference like: get the native american nets out of our rivers and streams....not rocket science.

McMinnville OR
One last response. I lived in Alaska for a number of years. They have it down. One chained up grader goes up the street pushing snow/slush into the center. Turns around goes back down pushing other side to center. Right behind the grader is a bucket loader and dump truck. Within 15 minutes street is clear for blocks. Simple, no chemicals, three people involved, done in 8 hours are miles of neighborhoods. Of course cities would require more than one but the concept works beautifully. I agree with everyone, the state I think hoped they would get by with a melt solving the problem, uh yeah, not so much.

Two issues here. One is the actual people doing the work. they have been great and follow instructions on what needs to be done. They are the executers and have been great with had theyare provided to work with. However remember those incompetent politicians are the ones to be blamed for not thinking on solutions that improve the situation. County executive and Mayor bad grade an F. The actual workers an A plus

Why are we even bring up the topic of whether or not government officals are doing their best. Their job is to oversight and plan for these sorts of thing in consideration of public transportation, safety, funding, and the X factor. They should not be faulted for doing their job as we hired them to do. Give them an "A" for planning effectively and efficiently. Give the guys and gals out there doing the work an "A+" for putting their best into keeping the transportation system open and running.

No one can plan the weather, only thing you can do is swag based on the best information you have at a moment in time.

I'm just now commenting on the horrible job that Skagit County and the cities within - Mt. Vernon, Sedro-Woolley & Burlington- have done or should I say have NOT DONE- with clearing the roads. I work for a heavy construction company and I went to work everyday (& overtime)we worked around the clock to clear AND maintain parking lots, driveways, etc.
Only the WSDOT did their job. ALL the roads outside of their "territory" were basically untouched. Burlington Blvd. which paralells I-5 ( and it the only access to Cascade Mall & the Outlet Mall & SEVERAL other businesses) should be renamed "Boulder Blvd." it was ridiculous - even at 5 MPH or less (it was grid locked) - it was tossing cars & trucks completely out of their lane and one man that I talked to at Costco (just off Burlington Blvd.) had his tire flattened & ruined his wheel - just by creeping down that road! We need to do what other states do (the ones that have common sense) and equip the garbage trucks so that they can attach blades and clear the roads as they pick up garbage. Since Waste Management has the contracts to pick up garbage for the cities of Mt. Vernon, Sedro-Woolley and Burlington - they should take on the contract for clearing the roads. This could be funded by the elimination of serveral city and county positions. The reason everyone is angry now is because this is affecting them. The rest of the year we all laugh & make "lazy" jokes about county & city workers and about how they would be fired if they worked in the private sector...well it's no joke is it?

P.S. Guess why the garbage wasn't picked up - even in areas where they could get to? The transfer station was closed. Guess who runs the transfer station? The county. There again, if it would have been a private sector business it would have been open.

I'd like to suggest that maybe, like the power company does, that when we need more snow plows, we ask other communities not using their's to consider contracting them (and their drivers too) to us.

I remember a very bad winter in eastern Oregon in the 60's. Guess who came to our rescue? It was the National Guard. When oh when do we get to use our National Guard to guard the nation again?

Boy, safeco field and the roads around there sure looked good though, didn't they? The city acted very gratuitous dolling out that little bit of corporate welfare to such a small area. too bad King and Snohomish counties weren't named Safeco county I and II

They are doing a great job! Of course they could do better but the Radical right wing Republicans cut their funding in both Oregon and Washington, now the people complain, well, well, what a surprise...

You con-menservatives want smaller government and continually cut funding to departments like these beause their need is only "occasional," but now you see the folly of your actions and words...but of course you will resort to typical Rush Limbaugh tactics and blame librals rather than point that (middle) finger at yourselves!

No... 'our' very steep hill in Kenmore has not been sanded yet since the 'storm' began. Bought chains, they lasted a whopping 3 days before disintegrating.
BTW just back from vacation to Europe - they use salt everywhere (last year as well when I was there). It's great, though the cars get extremely dirty.

I don't know about the rest of the area but here in Seattle officials did a terrible job clearing the streets for both vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Of course, our idiot Mayor Greg Nichols claims that he did a tremendous job of clearing the streets, but then, Nichols is a legend in his own mind.

I live on First Hill and the streets did not get cleared in my neighborhood until the rains came and Mother Nature took care of it, after of course, turning the snow to ice.

Down on the waterfront where I work, I watched snow plows go by at night with their scoops up, not touching the snow they were supposed to be clearing away.

It must have been three or four days, maybe a week, before I saw any sign that the snow was being cleared away anywhere in Seattle..

In response to Tami (12/24/08 at 6:20am) - I agree. There are jobs that don't allow employees to be late, etc. And in today's job market employers don't need more reasons to lighten their staff.

These storms are rare - plow, salt AND sand and keep after the main roads, exits and onramps. Many of the roads would have been better left alone rather than made such a huge mess of.

Personally, I'm tired of the excuses and reasons we are hearing. Time to hire new people or send the current ones to school - head to Eastern Washington and see how they do it.

I'm a 29 year resident of Seattle area and prior to that 19 years in Spokane so I know a thing or two about snow, ice, slush and messy winter roads.

There is no excuse for the mess we've seen this year.

I believe that Seattle has done what they could regarding the snow. If we are so quick to turn to use de-icer or salt. Most of us around here know that snow usually doesnt stay and it will just wash away to the drains with the rain that usually falls after the snow. Then all we are doing is literally washing away tax dollars. We in Seattle are not used to snow but when it does snow,it seems everyone is always so quick to jump on who to blame. Why not blame yourself? I say this because it is our own responsibility to know our city and that each and every person on the road needs to know how to drive in various situations. Don't blame the city because you failed to show up to work or did not prepare for snow in the winter time. Which is what usually happens at least once in Seattle. Maybe, people need to have a plan on how to get out of there driveways and side roads and leave the big highways to the city. I do not feel the Mayor needed to apologize and that we absolutely do not need to resort to salt just because of our poor lack of weather experience with the people of seattle. I think we all just need to learn how to deal with it and come up with our own plans on how we will individually adapt to our weather in the northwest. I am sure there are many ways people can come up with solutions, or have we just got so lazy that we need to be pampered every day of the year.

I believe that Seattle has done what they could regarding the snow. If we are so quick to turn to use de-icer or salt. Most of us around here know that snow usually doesnt stay and it will just wash away to the drains with the rain that usually falls after the snow. Then all we are doing is literally washing away tax dollars. We in Seattle are not used to snow but when it does snow,it seems everyone is always so quick to jump on who to blame. Why not blame yourself? I say this because it is our own responsibility to know our city and that each and every person on the road needs to know how to drive in various situations. Don't blame the city because you failed to show up to work or did not prepare for snow in the winter time. Which is what usually happens at least once in Seattle. Maybe, people need to have a plan on how to get out of there driveways and side roads and leave the big highways to the city. I do not feel the Mayor needed to apologize and that we absolutely do not need to resort to salt just because of our poor lack of weather experience with the people of seattle. I think we all just need to learn how to deal with it and come up with our own plans on how we will individually adapt to our weather in the northwest. I am sure there are many ways people can come up with solutions, or have we just got so lazy that we need to be pampered every day of the year.