January 11th 2007 Island Road Conditions
We used to have some web-cams on a site years ago, where we could actually see the north end ferry line. It was nice, but not sufficient enough to really give people a good idea of what road conditions were like on the island. I would think this would be pretty valuable information for people on this island to know on days like these. I did a little sampling on a personal level last night and received lots of great responses from friends (see below). If people had a place where they could email a short description of road conditions in their neighborhood (and pic's in some cases), I think it would be helpful to the community. I've found that sometimes in my neck of the woods, the conditions can be horrible....but then I drive a couple of miles north and the roads are just fine. Instead of assuming that the rest of the world is having just as much trouble getting down the road as I am, it would be nice to know that it's isolated to my neighborhood.....or even better...if it's worse up the road, I could make the decision to just stay home without attempting anything stupid.
I will try to work with Steve at http://www.vashonpages.com to come up with a way to have a central posting area for road conditions in the future.
So...for the time being, here are some "reports" from the community.
One mile north of the south end ferry the highway was a sheet of ice in both directions from my house.
Bank rd. and 18th - really icy! probably worse tomorrow am. .... I'm stayin' home....
103rd is still slippery going up from the parking lot towards town…..still a little icy spots coming up the main hwy too. My neighborhood is icy (right up from the parking lot).
I stayed in all day. i was even uncomfortable taking a walk. i didn't want to get taken out by some out of control sliding car
After returning from walking the dog on 220th, Old Mill Road, 232nd and vicinity this afternoon, all the main roads were clear--only the side streets and West Side Highway were still iced over. (West Side Highway is essentially a continuous sheet of ice from Madrona road up north to the junction with the road to the dump at its intersection with Cemetery Road.
We just spent 10 amusing minutes in the hot tub listening to a guy try to make it up the hill. He was clearly getting more and more pissed!
Vashon Hwy between the nursing home and Cemetery Rd. has been fine since late morning, but Cove and Cemetery were mostly solidly coated with ice. I get the impression that the highway is completely clear from end to end. There's been plenty of traffic out there actually, but plenty of cars on the side of the road as well; just south of the nursing home was a Jeep Wagoneer type thing which was upside down, in a ditch just wide enough to for it to fit. I can only assume the driver was okay, but it was in a place where you wouldn't think that could happen. Slippery out there. I also made it down to Dockton Park, which was slow going, as about half the ride was on icy/melting roads. On the way I did see at least a couple trucks out clearing snow/ice from the roads, so I imagine tomorrow will be much more palatable.
Just got a call from a friend who left here for the north end boat around 9:30. She said it was fine in her Subaru going very slowly. Corners were a bit slick, but she made it fine.
I was uptown yesterday. Getting to Burton nearly got me killed, down there on 216th near Judd Creek- no traction in that stretch dropping down to the culvert. The road above the big culvert by our house is black ice. Coming down the hill from Sound Food was scary... I was coming up too fast on a car, several hundred feet ahead, and couldn't stop. Ended up passing (glad there was no oncoming, or I'd have had to put it into the berries)... and fortunately the road was bare in that 15MPH corner, so I got slowed down. The highway from Burton to town was clear... and the N. end is sanded, by now...
I live over on Ridge Road above Ellisport. Definitely nice to have chains on my rear wheel drive van – it sucks in slippery conditions unless I’ve got the chains on. I drove into work yesterday and went skiing on Snoqualmie last night. No chains needed once I got into Vashon Town. The main road was good as was the ferry hill – the dock is a little slick, but not bad.
Seems like it would be best for people to stay home on a day like that when it is so unsafe. By last night the main highway was pretty clear but not totally and there were some very slippery areas. The side roads are still really bad.
I will try to work with Steve at http://www.vashonpages.com to come up with a way to have a central posting area for road conditions in the future.
So...for the time being, here are some "reports" from the community.
One mile north of the south end ferry the highway was a sheet of ice in both directions from my house.
Bank rd. and 18th - really icy! probably worse tomorrow am. .... I'm stayin' home....
103rd is still slippery going up from the parking lot towards town…..still a little icy spots coming up the main hwy too. My neighborhood is icy (right up from the parking lot).
I stayed in all day. i was even uncomfortable taking a walk. i didn't want to get taken out by some out of control sliding car
After returning from walking the dog on 220th, Old Mill Road, 232nd and vicinity this afternoon, all the main roads were clear--only the side streets and West Side Highway were still iced over. (West Side Highway is essentially a continuous sheet of ice from Madrona road up north to the junction with the road to the dump at its intersection with Cemetery Road.
We just spent 10 amusing minutes in the hot tub listening to a guy try to make it up the hill. He was clearly getting more and more pissed!
Vashon Hwy between the nursing home and Cemetery Rd. has been fine since late morning, but Cove and Cemetery were mostly solidly coated with ice. I get the impression that the highway is completely clear from end to end. There's been plenty of traffic out there actually, but plenty of cars on the side of the road as well; just south of the nursing home was a Jeep Wagoneer type thing which was upside down, in a ditch just wide enough to for it to fit. I can only assume the driver was okay, but it was in a place where you wouldn't think that could happen. Slippery out there. I also made it down to Dockton Park, which was slow going, as about half the ride was on icy/melting roads. On the way I did see at least a couple trucks out clearing snow/ice from the roads, so I imagine tomorrow will be much more palatable.
Just got a call from a friend who left here for the north end boat around 9:30. She said it was fine in her Subaru going very slowly. Corners were a bit slick, but she made it fine.
I was uptown yesterday. Getting to Burton nearly got me killed, down there on 216th near Judd Creek- no traction in that stretch dropping down to the culvert. The road above the big culvert by our house is black ice. Coming down the hill from Sound Food was scary... I was coming up too fast on a car, several hundred feet ahead, and couldn't stop. Ended up passing (glad there was no oncoming, or I'd have had to put it into the berries)... and fortunately the road was bare in that 15MPH corner, so I got slowed down. The highway from Burton to town was clear... and the N. end is sanded, by now...
I live over on Ridge Road above Ellisport. Definitely nice to have chains on my rear wheel drive van – it sucks in slippery conditions unless I’ve got the chains on. I drove into work yesterday and went skiing on Snoqualmie last night. No chains needed once I got into Vashon Town. The main road was good as was the ferry hill – the dock is a little slick, but not bad.
Seems like it would be best for people to stay home on a day like that when it is so unsafe. By last night the main highway was pretty clear but not totally and there were some very slippery areas. The side roads are still really bad.
posted by Pete at 2:54 PM
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