Ellington

All it took to reduce Seattle to a sliding, confused mess last week was 2.5 inches of snow.

Unbelievable.

We live in one of the most technologically centered and forward-thinking cities in the country, yet everything freezes to a halt when we’re faced with a layer of white fluff shorter than my index finger.

Snow shouldn’t be such an obstacle to this city.

The UW shouldn’t need to close for two days, drivers shouldn’t have to deal with 12-hour commutes and buses shouldn’t end up scattered across roads. While each of these is its own issue, most of the problems Seattle faced with the snowpocalypse lead directly back to the government.

The fact of the matter is that plenty of other major cities deal with the same conditions year in and year out. And we’re not just talking Alaska here, either.

When the first signs of a snowstorm begin to brew in New York, plenty of salt, ploughs and, most importantly, people are assigned to clear the snow as soon as it hits. Sure, it’s still cold outside, but schools aren’t canceled, work schedules are normal and traffic jams are still just caused by congestion, not accidents.

In the Big Apple, it isn’t just 3 inches they have to clear up either — it’s 3 feet. If they can manage that, why can’t we?

At this point, you might begin to gesture toward the budget and say that we can’t afford to budget for snow removal.

Guess again.

Some of the largest snow budgets in the Midwest still end up amounting to only a few million dollars. When you consider that Kansas City’s $2.5 million buys it enough help to deal with an average of 20 inches of snow a year, Seattle should have no problem budgeting to avoid snow. In comparison, only $654,040 was budgeted for street-maintenance in case of Seattle weather crises – including snow – this year. Our emergency-weather budget is rising next year, but the funding is still unacceptably low.

Considering the amount of damage this snowfall dealt to our schedules, wallets and sanity, finding room for an extra $2 million in this city’s $895 million 2011 budget is well worth ensuring this kind of crisis never happens again.

It’s true that some of the change happens with you. The fact that the majority of Seattle drivers are inept at driving in snow and ice doesn’t help. (Yes, even you, despite your constant assertion to the contrary.)

However, if the roads were cleaner and more steps were taken at the city level to help everybody get around in the snow, then the traffic problem would be reduced. No matter how bad a driver you are, you can’t chalk up 200 experienced bus drivers jackknifing or otherwise breaking down to being confounded by winter driving.

More snow is likely on the winter horizon, and we need to be ready before it hits. If there’s ever a bill that offers snow budgeting, I’m voting for it. But considering we just voted, here’s hoping the people in City Hall get this figured out earlier than next year. A shut-down city and a long commute home is something government officials cannot ignore.