Local agencies ready for winter weather
Nov. 16, 2022
Contacts
PBOT: Dylan Rivera, 503-577-3723
ODOT: Don Hamilton, 503-704-7452
WSDOT: Celeste Dimichina, 360-905-2057
You do your part this winter and we’ll do ours. Local agencies shared that message Wednesday, demonstrating that their equipment, their resources and their crews are ready for whatever the season throws at them.
TriMet, the Oregon State Police, the Portland Bureau of Transportation and the Oregon and Washington Departments of Transportation met at ODOT’s Sylvan maintenance yard in Portland to give reminders that we all have roles to play when winter weather makes traveling difficult.
Two video files of the Wednesday event are available In this Dropbox link.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xlzcixh9ij8bjsm/AADkbcfu8WT2qpZFMqBcb-cza?dl=0
After a hot and dry summer, conditions this fall turned wet and cold, creating all kinds of new hazards for travelers on the road. If nasty weather comes our way, the smart move is to get yourself someplace safe before the storm hits, said Ted Miller, ODOT’s maintenance and operations manager for the Portland area.
“You can help us by having a plan that gets you safely off the road before the storm hits,” Miller said. “Don’t wait until after. That creates a huge mess as we’ve seen in the past. Not only does that bring gridlock but it hurts our efforts to clear the road. Do what you can to get off the road before a storm hits so we have enough room to keep the roads passable for you.”
Travelers plays a critical role on the road as well.
Watch out for heavy equipment, the plows, sanders, deicer and salt trucks. They do a better job when there’s less traffic so give them a wide berth. The more traffic stays off the road, the quicker roads can be treated. Motor traffic should stay at least three car lengths back. Everybody benefits the sooner our crews can get the road cleared.
Chris Warner, director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said PBOT crews have been getting ready for winter weather, and they need the public to get ready as well.
"In winter weather, PBOT is focused on making roads passable for TriMet buses and first responders," Warner said. "We update our snow and ice routes every year to make sure we are plowing streets that provide access for buses, and for routes to hospitals and to emergency shelters. We’ve been getting winter ready. We need Portlanders to be winter ready too. With caution and common sense, we can all get home safe."
This year, PBOT has made two adjustments to salt routes, which grows the road salt service to 136 miles, up from 100 miles. First, with the recent transfer of 82nd Avenue from ODOT to the City of Portland, PBOT has added that corridor its salt routes. Second, PBOT has added a key segment of NW Skyline and Newberry roads to the city's salt routes.
For more details, and to make sure you're ready for winter weather, see portland.gov/winter
Oregon State Police Lt. Patrick Huskey advised motorists to make way for police, maintenance vehicles or emergency service vehicles during winter weather.
“There’s been a lot of great advice here today and I can assure you that once the snow starts to fly somebody’s going to ignore this great advice,” Huskey said. “We encourage the public to drive slow, go easy on the accelerator, go easy on the brakes and move over for first responders. And never pass a state trooper on the highway or the interstate. You’ll probably get some attention you’re not going to like.”
Representatives of OSP, PBOT, WSDOT, ODOT, TriMet and PBOT in front of ODOT's 2,500-pound bags of road salt.
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