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Week of Aug. 4, 2008
More to mowing than meets the eye
Maintenance crews rarely have a flat, level surface to mow when they are clearing the vegetation along county roads. | Most people look at the shoulder of a road in unincorporated King County and see a green assortment of grasses, weeds and blackberries. But staff with the maintenance section of the King County Road Services Division see work – a lot of work.It’s hard enough scheduling time to mow your own typical suburban lawn of 10,000 square feet. Just imagine having to worry about maintaining more than 100 million square feet of vegetation along 1,800 miles of road stretching from Skykomish on the north to Enumclaw on the south and Vashon on the west. “Our mowing schedule keeps us constantly busy from April through October,” says Maintenance Superintendent Tony Ledbetter. “It’s a combination of the sheer amount of roadside miles we have to maintain, the distances between unincorporated areas of the county, and a Northwest climate that really encourages plant growth.” Keeping up with the mowing is important safety work for the Roads Division. Uncontrolled vegetation can impair sightlines for drivers, and as the summer progresses the dried out weeds and grasses become a fire hazard. The maintenance section has 13 large mowers that have to be hauled out to sites on the back of a flatbed truck at the beginning of the mowing season or when they need repairs. They also have an assortment of smaller mowers, weed-eaters and hand-held equipment. Every spring, Ledbetter and his division supervisors work out a mowing plan that tries to balance safety with efficiency.
The large mowers have heads that are 4 to 6-feet wide, but most roadside areas still need more than one pass before vegetation is trimmed. Ledbetter says it takes more passes for mowable slopes and places where vegetation is thicker along the roadside. That’s why the maintenance section measures the work in “pass miles” – or, the amount of miles the individual mowers spend going up and down the side of the road. During the course of a typical summer, the maintenance section will rack up a total of 5,500 to 6,500 pass miles for all the mowers.Summer is not just a time for mowing, it’s also when the maintenance section is sweeping roads, repairing ditches, re-grading gravel roads, vactoring out storm drains, prepping for roadway repaving, and patching potholes. “You can't send a mower or sweeper out willy-nilly,” says Ledbetter. “You have to make sure everything gets done without spending all of your time mobilizing and demobilizing." Since the mowing work is so labor intensive, it is costly. And, because many unincorporated roads are two-lane and narrow, the mowing operations often block traffic requiring flaggers to be present with the crew. It’s important that the work is scheduled in a route format to optimize the use of the equipment and the crew time, while minimizing disruptions for traffic. “It’s great when people call us and tell us there is a problem area somewhere in the county where the vegetation is overgrown, but they sometimes don't understand why we can't just drop everything and hop over to that spot,” says Ledbetter. “If we did that each time we got a call, we'd get totally behind schedule. “That's not to say we let things sit, though. If we have an intersection or sightline that’s being blocked and the mower isn't scheduled right away, we'll get the weed-eaters on the worst part until we get back with the big mower.” To report a problem on a county road, call (206) 296-8100, or send an email.
Winners from the local roadeo held last month, now advance to the national competition in Colorado. | The Roads Services Division holds an annual competition each July to determine the “best-of-the-best” truck drivers and equipment operators. Those who triumph go on to represent King County at the American Public Works Association (APWA) Western Snow and Ice Conference and National Snow Roadeo in Estes Park, Colorado. This year’s winners in the truck driving competition are Corey Green and Scott Baker, and the winners in the equipment operator competition are Clint Willaford and Andy Allen. All competitors had to pass written and safety tests. After successfully passing those tests, they moved on to the on-the-road judging, which included obstacle courses for both dump trucks and heavy equipment. The APWA event will take place in September. Both at the local and national level, the competition challenges employees to keep their skills current, encourage continued mastery of all aspects of equipment operation and truck driving, while setting an example for the best safety practices.
The Mariners finish the series against the Minnesota Twins with a day game on Wednesday, Aug. 6 at 1:40 p.m. Depending on when the game ends, afternoon commute traffic in the south end of downtown Seattle could be disrupted or congested, which could delay bus travel through the area. Regular commuters may want to adjust their schedules to leave town earlier that day, or avoid the area around the stadium. For those going to the game, Metro Transit offers lots of regular service that travels near Safeco Field in the mid-afternoon. After the game is over, avoid the congestion, by taking regular bus service home. There is no special shuttle service either before or after the day games. Check Metro Online for more information, or call (206) 553-3000 (voice) or (206) 684-1739 (TTY).
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In July, King County Metro Transit’s Rideshare Operations group conducted a special VanPool orientation class at REI headquarters in Kent. This class was scheduled at the request of REI's employee transportation coordinator to meet the escalating demand for vanpools at the company. Forty-two REI employees attended the orientation for vanpool drivers and bookkeepers, and five new vanpool groups were formed. That brings REI’s total to 19 Metro vanpools and four vanshares serving their Kent campus. Interest in vanpooling is at an all-time high, and the general orientation classes hosted by Metro are filling up fast. If you’re interested in starting up a vanpool or vanshare this fall for work or school, now is the time to contact Rideshare Operations either online or by calling (206) 625-4500.
Cicci earns first Turner Award for 2008 The quarterly George Turner Award was given recently to a Metro bus driver who has an excellent safety record and a track record for kindness. Dennis Cicci from East Base was the Turner Award recipient for the first quarter of 2008. The award is given by the Northwest Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans Association to recognize and show appreciation for transit operators who best exemplify a positive attitude and awareness of the needs of the elderly and disabled in our communities. Cicci’s commendation prompting the award described his helpful attitude assisting a quadriplegic bus rider in the Issaquah Highlands. “Having someone like Dennis drive me to work in the mornings was very comforting. It has helped me transition back to work and feel comfortable taking the bus again,” the passenger wrote to Metro. | Subscribe to DOT DashSign-up to receive an e-mail text version of "Transportation Today," along with other significant DOT news by sending an e-mail to us with subscribe King County DOT Dash in the subject line.
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