Seattleites have a new way this winter to find out the condition of the city’s arterial streets when it snows—from the comfort of their homes. The Winter Weather Response Map on SDOT’s Web site tracks the location of snow response vehicles (such as snowplows and flusher trucks) in real time. The map shows what’s been plowed or treated in the last hour, last three hours, and last 12 hours. There are also links to traffic cameras that provide views of many of the arterials so you can see if snow has accumulated on the pavement and if cars are making it through. During January, the new map was very popular despite the fact that not many people knew about it before the snow started falling. The number of visits to the Web site is shown in the table below. To see the map, go to http://web1.seattle.gov/sdot/winterweathermap/ . (Unless we’re in the midst of a snowstorm, you won’t see any activity on the map.)
During the Martin Luther King, Jr Day winter storm, the Winter Weather Response Map received so many visits that the system became overloaded. City technicians were able to move the map to a different server and get it working again. SDOT received many phone calls and e-mail messages from people who said they found the map and the camera views to be very helpful. If you were one of the people who had trouble viewing the map this time around, we encourage you to try it again next time it snows.
The numbers in the table below illustrate the spike in visits to the winter weather response map during the Jan 16-20 storm.
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There are other maps on SDOT’s Web site that also provide useful information, including snow routes, potholes, street trees, traffic, and construction: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/maps.htm