New Snow Plan Gets Social

Since last winter's Snowpocalypse shut down the city, the Seattle DOT has been looking for ways to save face should another heavy snow hamper transport in the area. They released their new Snow Plan just in time for the change in weather. Mayor Nickels took heavy fire for the City's handling of the storm. It certainly cost him some goodwill, and whoever our next mayor is, he'd better be equipped to respond to winter storms effectively and quickly if he expects his constituents to stay happy.

As part of its new Snow Plan, SDOT has promised to clear all arterial roads within eight hours. They will also have crews treat roads with a salt solution anytime there's a 50% chance of a storm. This is significant, as the City came under fire last winter for refusing to use salt on the roads, citing environmental concerns.

SDOT is also rolling out new communication methods across a variety of media. In addition to publishing a Snow Map (PDF), which matches SDOT's snow routes with Metro transit routes, they'll also revamp their website during a snowstorm to focus entirely on snow removal. SDOT is using their blog to spread information about snow removal.

Most interestingly, they'll also be using Twitter to send real-time status updates about traffic and road status during snowstorms. Twitter sends updates to phones as well as computers, so this could prove extremely useful to the harried commuter. If you've ever questioned the utility of Twitter, it's time to bite your tongue.