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Stanwood Camano News Article:
Road crews fight snow, ice to clear shady Camano roads
 An Island County snow plow scrapes and sands East Camano Drive near Monticello Drive on Camano Island on Friday as up to 6 inches of snow fell. Crews have been working daily to maintain safe roads. (Courtesy: Evan Caldwell, Stanwood Camano News)
Island County Public Works is having a “snow fight” in keeping shady roads clear.
The county crew started sanding on Camano and Whidbey islands at 1 p.m. Feb. 3, when it was snowing but not yet sticking. The crews sanded until after the Super Bowl that day to help travelers get home.
“We’ve been sanding and plowing from 5 in the morning until late, 7-8 p.m. every day,” said Bill Oakes, public works director and county engineer.
He pointed out that many people don’t realize the problem with Northwest snow: it’s very wet. Once it compacts into ice, the plows have difficulty getting it off the roads.
“This has been a week of very cold temperatures that keeps it frozen and it’s a tough fight. It’s a snow fight,” he said.
Oakes’ advice to local drivers: “If you can stay off the roads, please do.”
Contrary to rumors, the county doesn’t scrimp on salt or sand for environmental reasons. The county puts salt in every load of sand to act as a de-icer and help break up the ice. They use what they need for the job.
“We purchased some extra pallets so we’re stocked up for the next event here,” Oakes said. “We have sand; we have salt; we can put three sanders in the field for a little less than 200 miles. That’s more coverage than the DOT for per-mile coverage.”
The state Department of Transportation maintains SR 532 coming onto Camano Island to Terry’s Corner. It’s quickly cleared of snow and ice. Beyond Terry’s Corner on East Camano and North Camano drives, it’s still icy.
County roads are a bigger challenge than the state road. It’s a matter of sunlight, trees and shade. The sun shines on SR 532 while many of Camano’s roads are forested corridors cloaked in shadow and coated with ice.
“Camano is an interesting place. It has a lot more elevation than people think, it’s hillier, and it has a lot of vegetation,” Oakes said. “It’s a beautiful spot, but all those trees shade the road it makes it a tough challenge.”
The crews looking to the coming storms are ready to plow and spread as much salt and sand as they can. Oakes cautions that when things warm up, ice and snow start melting, but additional water makes roads slick.
Arterial and collector roads have the most priority — the roads that carry the most traffic. Primary attention is given to clearing school bus/commuter routes. Secondary roads will be plowed/sanded as crews are available after the primary routes are clear.
Some roads and areas are too steep or narrow for the equipment to operate, such as Woodland Beach, Pebble Beach, Wilkes Gary Heights and the west side of Cross Island Road and Monticello Drive.
To find a sanding priority map for alternate routes and a list of roads that are too steep to sand, visit: tinyurl.com/y7wenj5t.
Contact reporter Peggy Wendel at pwendel@scnews.com or 360-416-2189.
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