Snow snarls morning commute

Posted by Geeky Swedes on February 26th, 2009

9 a.m. update: About an inch of snow fell between 4 and 6 a.m., delaying Seattle Public Schools by two hours and throwing a wrench into the morning commute. Most of Ballard’s roadways remain clear, but My Ballard readers reported numerous delays with Metro buses in the neighborhood.

“The 46 never showed up and the 44 didn’t show up at 28th & Market for the time that I waited,” said Aech. “As we passed the stop at Ballard & Market, a 17 that was completely full was pulling away, leaving 30+ people at the stop.” (See Metro’s weather delays.) A SDOT plow was spotted on 15th Ave., but there was little snow to plow. Most of SDOT’s crews focused on trouble spots like the Viaduct and West Seattle Bridge. And commuters heading to the Eastside (including Microsoft’s Connector buses) were hit with long backups and delays.

My Ballard readers also reported a loud bang and a power outage at 6:15 a.m. “I called City Light’s emergency number and he indicated that several neighbors on NW 64th have reported the same thing,” wrote Sharon in an email at 6:45 a.m. “Everyone west of us (we’re between 15th and 17th) that we can see is out, but our neighbor directly east seems to have power.” Power appears to have been restored. Have anything to report? Please post below…

Tags: Ballard Facebook

JB

Just look at the picture at the top. No snow. Find some real news.

JB

You people in the Northwest know nothing about snow. You all need to learn how to drive in it. Being on the road at 6:30 was a joke. Anyone who put chains on this morning is an idiot and is the cause for the roads falling apart. How can this little amount of snow even be news? Please Seattle learn to drive in snow. You are ruining the roads and drive horribly slow.

Joe

Thomas:

What's link for the Metro tracker. I was checking MyBus while waiting for the 17 this AM - useless.

Thanks!

Thomas

The Metro Tracker worked well this morning. I pulled it up, saw that the 17 was delayed by 30 minutes, and got a cup of coffee. I came back out of the coffee shop and got on the bus right when Tracker said it would be ther. Tracker+iPhone has changed my commute forever.

jburgh

^ that was the DH posting, he meant 85th and 24th.

jburgh

Waited nearly 50 minutes about 6:00 for the #18 at 85th & Market--nothing.

And, of course, no mention of delay on the metro website.

Tried again at 9:30. Caught a 18x (articulated) that had only 4 riders all the way into the city.

joe

sharon

AJ the power was back on by 8:15 when I woke back up.

soil

dang weather report, said nothing but rain so that's what I prepared for. Now most my seeds are MIA. that's what i get for seeding early..

AJ

I'm also on 64th between 14th and 15th and we had no power in my building. I'm at work now, does anyone know if the power has been restored?

chelsea!

I wandered to the bus stop to catch the 8:52 17 to downtown...lo and behold the 8:11 17x pulls up at 8:51. Thanks Metro!

There were 4-5 people at 28th & Market, still waiting for a 44/46 to show up. ..even at 9am.

elle

i waited for the 28 X at 8th and 65th for 45 minutes at 6:20 am... nothing. ended up driving to work. my husband said the local was JAM packed.

jules

i had no trouble driving to work at 6:45. enjoy your day!

t

The snow actually started at midnight.

Also, metro communication sucks. i waited 45 minutes for the #15 this morning, and i even checked the web site before i left to make sure it was running normally. the streets were fine. all the other bus routes going through the intersection were running just fine ... except for the 15.
i understand having to wait when there's bad weather, but that wasn't that much snow!

CKE

I heard that bang too, over near 11th and 62nd, and wondered what it was. No power outage here, though.

Driving through Ballard and Queen Anne was totally fine this morning, although the steep cobblestone hills on QA were a little snowy, and walking on slushy sidewalks was pretty slippery. But I'm sure all this pretty white stuff will be gone soon!

aech

The 46 never showed up and the 44 didn't show up at 28th & Market for the time that I waited. I got a ride to the U-District, and as we passed the stop at Ballard & Market, a 17 that was completely full was pulling away, leaving 30+ people at the stop.

silence.kit

Chains are so pointless. It BARELY snowed. The roads are bad enough as it is.

Totally agree that Seattle needs to stop being so scared of a little bit of snow. The roads were perfect at 7:15.

Cyclocrossmechanic

I was on a 15 at around 6:15 this morning and it had chains on. They were overkill but I appreciate the caution. It was more crowded than usual. Also spotted a plow heading up 15th. Not much to plow but good to see they're trying to be proactive.

Seriously sad that it takes this little snow to disrupt a major city. I mean come on people, it snows every year - stop acting like it's some freak once in a century situation and learn to deal with it. Lots of others cities seem to be able to cope.

snoopy

Waited at 75th for 45 minutes this morning for the 15.....Nothing.

gcm

heard the bang too, i'm on 65th just west of 15th and my power did not go out. weird.

Danika

Our power went out- we're also on 64th btwn 15th and 17th. I think it was pretty localized.

Incidentally, buses were VERY few and far between on the morning commute.

Silver

Missy: LOL!

This is awesome neighborhood coverage! Let's see a print newspaper beat it!

Missy

Good luck to everyone trying to make it to work this morning. There was apparently only one route 15 bus operating this morning (which is NOT mentioned on the Metro website). I'm sure they'll have chains on this afternoon when all the snow is gone.