King County clearing roads, keeping people moving

Metro Transit, road crews, regional partners working to keep services intact

Fewer King County residents than expected are struggling with weather-related impacts today as the overnight storm packed less of a punch than forecast. The weather along with staffing and preparations by King County departments and regional partners combined to help keep people moving and safe overnight.

King County's Department of Transportation sanding crews are working around the clock to keep county roads clear in unincorporated areas. They've deployed 27 trucks with a plow in front and sander on the back, two plows, nine graders for pushing snow off roadways, and nine anti-icer trucks.

Metro Transit is operating approximately half of its normal bus service today. Riders should check the Metro Online website at www.kingcounty.gov/metro to see if their bus route is operating and if it is on snow routing; and note that travel conditions can change quickly so the list of disrupted service may be revised at any time due to weather and road conditions.

Metro is running Access vans on life-sustaining routes for established riders.

Metro also helped keep thousands of cars off the roads today by running its Seahawks shuttle service today to Qwest Field from Eastgate Park-and-Ride in Bellevue, Northgate Park-and-Ride in North Seattle, and the South Kirkland Park-and-Ride. Fans should expect crowded conditions on the shuttles, and should give themselves plenty of time to get to the game because the buses may be delayed by road and traffic conditions.

Public Health - Seattle & King County has conducted extensive outreach on the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning, including contacts with over 200 retail locations including pharmacies, grocery stores, gas stations, hardware stores, with many agreeing to post warning pictograms in multiple languages in their facilities. In addition, over 200 health care and community-based organizations received carbon monoxide information for dissemination with their clients. The posters and other information about carbon monoxide poisoning, including symptoms and prevention tips, are available online (http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/preparedness/disaster/carbon-monoxide-english.aspx).

King County has closed its Factoria Transfer Station in Bellevue and its Cedar Falls Drop Box in North Bend indefinitely today. The county's Houghton Transfer Station in Kirkland was already closed.

All other solid waste transfer facfilities are operating normally for now, but could be closed early due to continuing severe winter weather conditions. Customers should visit the King County Solid Waste Division Web site for updates before getting on the road (http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/facilities/transfer.asp).

Considering the widespread snow and wind that pushed through the region, relatively few residents are facing power outages and Puget Sound Energy has been able to quickly restore most customers who lost power over the last 24 hours. Roughly 50 PSE customers scattered throughout King County are without power.

Although the winter storm warning for the Tacoma/Seattle/Everett Metro Area has been cancelled, another weather system is expected to bring a trace to two inches of snow around 2 pm today.

King County Office of Emergency Management and Public Health-Seattle & King County continue to monitor and support regional coordination of needed services and public safety messages.