With more snow forecast, City of Edmonds crews going into ’emergency mode’ Friday

A City of Edmonds snow plow ready to go. (Courtesy City of Edmonds Facebook page)

With a weekend forecast that calls for more snow across the region, the City of Edmonds is going into emergency mode to provide 24-hour snow coverage.

Street/Storm Manager Tod Moles said that starting on Friday afternoon, the city’s Street and Storm department will be going into an “emergency shift change.” This means that public works crews will be split in half and working 12-hour shifts for round-the-clock snow coverage.

“We plan to run this shift all of next week and on if the weather dictates,” Moles said in an email Thursday.

Edmonds police, meanwhile, had this advice: “Don’t go out unless you absolutely have to,” Sgt. Shane Hawley said. “It’s not worth the risk.”

While emergency crews can come to you if it’s truly an emergency, such as a medical issues, Hawley said, he advised citizens to “be prepared ahead of time with what they need.”

The National Weather Service in its forecast predicts a likely snowfall of 2-3 inches in Seattle and 4-6 inches in Everett. Colder ground temperatures mean the snow will accumulate more quickly on the roads, the weather service said.

According to Moles, the first weather system looks like it will hit sometime Friday afternoon. Crews will be doing anti-ice treatment in front of the snow arrival, but there are limitations to what the city can do, he added.

The city has three plow trucks equipped with sanders, plus an anti-ice truck. “Anti-ice is just one of many tools at our disposal but It is expensive and has its limitations,” Moles explained. “There is a misconception that it magically makes for a dry, ice-free road surface. The reality is that it helps to inhibit the ice from bonding with the pavement, but once the snow flies it’s really not effective until the snow build up stops and the plows can get the surface back down to compact snow and ice.”

Once that surface is created, city crews use a process called pre-wetting, which sprays the anti-ice on the sand as it comes out of the spreader, Moles said. “This gets that sand to bond to the ice creating more friction for the travel right of way. As temperatures come up, that pretreatment of a road surfaces and the pre-wetting of the sand causes the ice to break up, allowing for us to better clear the compact snow and ice.”

However,  the reality is that there are places in Edmonds that the trucks can’t access. “Due to steep slopes and shaded areas, a plow truck is just as likely to slide out of control as any other vehicle,” Moles said. “Obviously if a truck becomes stuck or trapped, that is one critical piece of our snow response that we no longer have at our disposal.”

And for environmental reasons, the City of Edmonds refrains from using salt, he added. “The science on this is across the board, but the results are clear. Salt is a great ice killer, but it is also an environmental and vehicle killer. The CMA (calcium magnesium acetate) we use has been clearly identified as inert to the environment and has no corrosive properties. We have been using it since 1998 and until we are directed to do otherwise, we will continue to use it.

“Yes, other cities may break out of the freeze quicker than Edmonds, but at what price?” Moles said.

 

 

  1. I live on top of firdale. The 236th street hill to Edmonds Way was still very treacherous this morning, even with the sand. The alternative ways off the hill are less steep but not on the list of roads to get treated.

    Either treat one of those or put salt on the 236th hill! If you lose traction and start sliding you will end up in the middle of Edmonds Way! It’s got to be the steepest road with no runout in Edmonds.

  2. Thank you sandman, I appreciate your hard work and long hours! Not everyone has the luxury of taking a snow day when weather is bad, including the street department.

  3. These times are when all of us really appreciate the work that crews do in bad weather.
    Thanks to all those who risk themselves for our safety. THANK YOU!!!

  4. As an east coast native it’s always a surprise that cities even if they don’t get a lot of snow are completely paralyzed.

    That said with so few snow plows available what about converting our trash trucks to be able to haul snow? We have a fleet of them do we not? All they’d possibly need is an attachment and we could actually get to the side streets we say we cant and cover more ground…. not sure what contract we have with waste management but it’s a start.

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