According to the City Manager’s Report prepared for the December 2nd Burien City Council meeting, the City of Burien is equipped and ready to handle snow and ice that may be part of Highline’s winter season.

With this weekend’s temperatures hovering around record lows and chances of snow spotting the area’s forecasts, the City is assuring the community that the Public Works Department is ready to handle whatever may cross Burien’s 140 linear miles, or over 300 lane-miles, of roadway. The City is currently equipped with two 5-yard dump trucks that are equipped with plows and sand spreaders, a single 1-ton dump truck with a smaller plow, and a single 1.5-ton truck with a plow and 500 gallon sprayer. Liquid brine, purchased from the City of SeaTac, is used along with a mix of salt and sand in spreaders. If weather conditions surpass the level the City’s equipment can handle, both King County and Burien’s new solid waste removal provider, CleanScapes, are available for backup plowing and spreading.

According to the City’s most recent news letter, crews used over 500-gallons of brine to treat major streets and hills before expected snowfall and temperatures dropping below freezing last winter. The brine helps prevent snow from sticking and ice from forming on roadways.

"The snow-removal crew operates 24 hours during storms, working in continual 12-hours shifts. Crews first concentrate on arterials, then move to secondary streets, and if possible, residential streets. In the case of severe, continual snowfalls, most focus will be on arterials.

For more information on road clearing, contact the Public Works Department at (206) 248-5521. Residents are asked to call and report potential road hazards such as downed trees and hanging branches. Do not try to remove downed trees and branches tangled with power lines. Contact your utility company which can send a crew out to remove them safely.

Residents can obtain information about road conditions, power outages, facility closures and other storm-related news on the City of Burien website, www.burienwa.gov, which will be updated with the latest information. Similar storm-related information will also be available on radio station 540 AM."