Why Seattle will plow bike lanes after a snow storm

Seattle has survived its first snow event of the season, but if history is any indication — considering past La Ninas — more snowy weather could be on the way. And as discussed at a recent council briefing, the city is prepared to plow much-relied-upon passageways — bike lanes.

“Some people will say, ‘Why in the world are you bothering to deal with bike lanes in a snow storm?'” said council member Sally Bagshaw at a Monday council briefing with the Seattle Department of Transportation.

“I’d like to remind our good friends that Copenhagen and other cities actually plow their bike lanes first, to encourage people to keep moving and get around,” she said. “So it’s really not a joke. I appreciate your work on that.”

Seattle gets first blast of snow of the season

As SDOT Director Scott Kubly was briefing the council on the city’s snow-preparation plans, council member Rob Johnson questioned him about how Seattle would address bike lanes after snow falls on the streets. Kubly said that the department previously assessed how it’s current equipment could handle bike lanes, and had to make some adjustments and will need to get special equipment to handle the job.

“With some of the facilities, we will have to order additional equipment so they are narrower to fit down (bike lanes),” Kubly said. “We are also going to be implementing a new standard that puts the protected bike lanes at the same response rate we would for the Emerald routes.”

“Emerald routes” are roads that SDOT prioritizes after a snow event. “Gold” and “emerald” routes are cleared first to get traffic moving through the city, they are also where many popular protected bike lanes are.

Seattle suffered a crippling snow storm in 2008. Kubly noted that Seattle now uses that year as the “bellwether,” or the standard to prepare for snow. That snow event was during a moderate La Nina year. It is unknown how strong the expected La Nina will be. The preceding El Nino was considered very strong. There is ultimately no way to predict how a La Nina will affect weather from year-to-year. But they are generally noted by bringing in more precipitation during winter, and that has forecasters watching this year’s La Nina.

The city did not use salt on the roads in 2008, rather it relied on a de-icing chemical and sand. That has changed, and the city now utilizes salt, Kubly told the council Monday. The city has also upped it’s communication by utilizing the AlertSeattle system, and now-common social media such as Twitter. The city also has sensors in certain roads that register temperature and moisture on the street — that tells officials where the most affected roads are. Seattle has also increased its number of light-duty plows.

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