Traffic Payout

We are a week into October  and the weather has been mostly mild, which is a perfect time to get prepared for what winter will bring us.  I keep hearing opinions that El Niño will give us a milder winter, but just in case we have a repeat of last year's Snowpocalypse, take the time now to prepare your car for winter. Don't be left scrambling at the last minute when The Weather Event of Aught Nine hits and the stores are sold out of everything you need.

Note to self: Buy snow shovel...Just in case.





On that note here is a list of steps you can take to prepare your car for winter:

• Have your cooling system cleaned and flushed, replenish antifreeze.
  
• Check your battery, thermostat, heater, and defroster.
• Check hoses and belts for cracking, rotting or softness.
• Purchase winter wiper blades and change wiper fluid for anti-freeze version. Check that the spray nozzles for the wiper fluid are not clogged.
• Get windshield nicks fixed so that the "thermal shock" of temperature changes don't turn the nick into a crack.
• Check the tread on tires and get chains if needed. You can find out more information about tires and chain options on our winter driving site.
• Pack an emergency kit. We have a list of items to include to help you get started.

You can also download our Winter Driving Brochure (pdf 417k) to print out and take with you or contact Alice Fiman to request multiple copies.

By guest blogger Amanda Sullivan, I-90 Communications

Have you ever needed to travel over I-90 Snoqualmie Pass at night and tried to pull up WSDOT’s mountain pass traffic cameras only to see a pitch black image with the occasional car headlight?

Well, not anymore. WSDOT just completed installing eight new low-light traffic cameras on I-90 west of Snoqualmie Summit to Cle Elum. The new traffic cameras have infrared illuminators that provide around-the-clock views of highway conditions – even during a midnight snow storm!


Now, you can plan your evening trips based on what you see from the new cameras before you hit the road. You can view these cameras from the Snoqualmie Pass mountain pass condition Web page or WSDOT’s statewide traveler information Web page.

What are the specific locations of the new cameras you ask?
We’re live at the following locations:

Franklin Falls (milepost 51.3)
Snoqualmie Summit (milepost 52)
Price Creek (milepost 61)
Easton Hill (milepost 67.4)
Easton (milepost 70.6)

The following locations also have new cameras and should be available for public viewing before winter:

East Bandera (milepost 46.8)
Hyak (milepost 55.17)
Cle Elum (milepost 84.6)

The $60,000 camera replacement project was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.