- Posts: 13
- Thank you received: 0
Jim hill henry creek cars getting towed
- z-bo
- [z-bo]
- Topic Author
- Offline
- New Member
I was personally told by the dot boss for hwy 2 about 5-6 years ago that parking on the shoulder to the west of the big pullout was totally fine. I think it's super fucked that anyone would come out of the wilderness in below freezing temperatures and not have a vehicle there. Especially in a place with no cell service.
Uncle dash has your back. Fight the power
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- andyski
- [andyski]
- Offline
- Senior Member
- Posts: 250
- Thank you received: 0
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Pete A
- [Bud]
- Offline
- Senior Member
- Posts: 431
- Thank you received: 0
If law enforcement wants to start towing folks there, especially in the dead of winter, they need to get some signage up.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- aaron_wright
- [aaron_wright]
- Offline
- Senior Member
- Posts: 429
- Thank you received: 0
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- snoholic
- [snoholic]
- Offline
- Junior Member
- Posts: 119
- Thank you received: 1
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- kamtron
- [kamtron]
- Offline
- Senior Member
- Posts: 269
- Thank you received: 8
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- aaron_wright
- [aaron_wright]
- Offline
- Senior Member
- Posts: 429
- Thank you received: 0
I think the issue with parking at the ventilators is more a BNSF issue than WSDOT. I might be wrong.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Pete A
- [Bud]
- Offline
- Senior Member
- Posts: 431
- Thank you received: 0
I had forgotten that this towing issue popped up last season as well. Sounds like DOT/State Patrol isn't keen on people parking west of the tunnel vent building on days they are running plows on the highway- Jan 18th last year, four cars got towed and it cost them $500 in fees.
www.facebook.com/groups/148764008559430/...ink/675207712581721/
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- z-bo
- [z-bo]
- Topic Author
- Offline
- New Member
- Posts: 13
- Thank you received: 0
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Lowell_Skoog
- [Lowell_Skoog]
- Offline
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1460
- Thank you received: 16
My understanding is that it is okay to park just west (left) of the road that accesses the Berne tunnel maintenance building. This is on the north (westbound) side of the highway, near the edge of the big pullout.
This Google Earth picture illustrates that location:
Were the towed cars parked here or somewhere else?
----
To be clear, the location that I pointed to is small. Parking a car or two there may be okay, but parking a whole chain of cars could cause a problem.
I got this information a year ago from someone with good connections to WSDOT, but things do change.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Bruce A
- [Bruce A]
- Offline
- New Member
- Posts: 19
- Thank you received: 1
With the growth of backcountry travel, maybe there are now enough numbers for users to organize and bring pressure to have plowed turnouts expressly for parking. This would probably have to be fee based, like the snowparks are, but I for one would happily buy a sticker to have increased touring options.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Charlie Hagedorn
- [trumpetsailor]
- Offline
- Elite Member
- Posts: 913
- Thank you received: 1
In addition, there's support in the snowmobile community for enabling backcountry skiers to have better winter access to existing wilderness.
It's occasionally possible for everyone to win!
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- flowing alpy
- [flowing alpy]
- Offline
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1272
- Thank you received: 0
Total bullshit. You can't leave someone in the middle of nowhere coming out of the woods without their vehicle. Theres no signage saying you can't park on the shoulder. How do we even know what days they will plow? Took them 2 weeks to clear both lanes of the connector to the xc area. Apparently any day is a plow day.
Let's not miss the real point here, gentlemen.
Random tow times, at an unmarked location,
without sufficient notice, in winter, is horrible.
Kudos to uncle-dash for looking out for us!
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- alecapone
- [alecapone]
- Offline
- Junior Member
- Posts: 202
- Thank you received: 0
I Think the beef is with the dot.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Lowell_Skoog
- [Lowell_Skoog]
- Offline
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 1460
- Thank you received: 16
But honestly, do you think the highway department cares why you left your car alongside the highway?
If somebody parks their car along the road of their free will and wanders off into the hills, it's not the highway department's business to worry about where they went and when they'll be back. It's the highway department's job to keep the road safe for motorists.
Doing that job is not unacceptable. It's their job!
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- juan
- [jon_ambrose]
- Offline
- Junior Member
- Posts: 134
- Thank you received: 0
Is the pullout on the north side between the nordic center and the ventilators not plowed? It's just west of that steep bouldered hill side and east of where the highway divides. The pullout at the ventilators across from Henry Creek has been signed no parking for quite a while.
I think the issue with parking at the ventilators is more a BNSF issue than WSDOT. I might be wrong.
This is where I always park never had a problem
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- alecapone
- [alecapone]
- Offline
- Junior Member
- Posts: 202
- Thank you received: 0
I could see if their was a sign where I parked, but there wasn't. I wasn't on the highway, nor alongside it. Cars park there all the time. Nothing ever gave me a clue I might get towed. Totally random and unexpected. I took photos of the location, lack of signage. I did fight it, and I did get everything waved.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Pete_H
- [Pete_H]
- Offline
- Junior Member
- Posts: 140
- Thank you received: 0
I'm as eager as anyone to have winter parking available along US-2.
But honestly, do you think the highway department cares why you left your car alongside the highway?
If somebody parks their car along the road of their free will and wanders off into the hills, it's not the highway department's business to worry about where they went and when they'll be back. It's the highway department's job to keep the road safe for motorists.
Doing that job is not unacceptable. It's their job!
I agree with Lowell to some extent but if you are parked in safe place, in a pullout or wide shoulder, after a storm and the roads been plowed; then the argument that the dot is just doing their job and keeping the road safe doesn't hold water.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- z-bo
- [z-bo]
- Topic Author
- Offline
- New Member
- Posts: 13
- Thank you received: 0
Exactly. I was told the same as Lowell that the spot is good to park at. If you're parked on the shoulder and there are no signs saying you can't park there, then how are you justifiably towed. Gonna go have a talk with the dot in the near future. I'm fine with not parking there but it needs to be clear that we can't park there.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Scottk
- [Scottk]
- Offline
- Junior Member
- Posts: 82
- Thank you received: 0
"Shoulder parking on US 2 over Stevens Pass is both illegal and unsafe. The State Patrol says motorists who park illegally are subject to a $136 parking ticket and the impound of their vehicle so park in designated lots only. Vehicles parked on the shoulder prevent our crews from effectively plowing the highway. Shoulder parking also creates congestion and backups that can cause vehicles to have to stop in avalanche zones."
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Richard_Korry
- [Richard_Korry]
- Offline
- Junior Member
- Posts: 50
- Thank you received: 0
Access issues will continue to get worse as more people discover back country - witness Mt Baker wanting to charge bc skiers to use their lot. I'm surprised Stevens doesn't have people patrolling the lots to catch people heading up to Skyline Ridge considering the problem Stevens has with insufficient parking.
I know in the past SnoPark has had funding issues where the cost of the pass wasn't covering costs of equipment, operating costs (labor/fuel), etc. It's been $40/year for as long as I can remember. Maybe it's time to bump the pass to $50 to get more access. Anybody here on the citizen committee?
I know it's hard to take when you've been parking somewhere forever without issues and suddenly you get towed or have to pay for parking. But the reality the population in Puget Sound is only getting larger and no one is making more places to go back country.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Pete_H
- [Pete_H]
- Offline
- Junior Member
- Posts: 140
- Thank you received: 0
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- T. Eastman
- [T. Eastman]
- Offline
- Senior Member
- Posts: 288
- Thank you received: 0
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- aaron_wright
- [aaron_wright]
- Offline
- Senior Member
- Posts: 429
- Thank you received: 0
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Jsper
- [Jsper]
- Offline
- New Member
- Posts: 16
- Thank you received: 0
Getting towed last night.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- swirly
- [ryan cresswell]
- Offline
- New Member
- Posts: 1
- Thank you received: 0
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Jsper
- [Jsper]
- Offline
- New Member
- Posts: 16
- Thank you received: 0
out Mr. Skoog's post for location on hiway
2 that we're speaking of.
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- John Morrow
- [John_Morrow]
- Offline
- Junior Member
- Posts: 103
- Thank you received: 0
Darn it, I saw multiple cars
Getting towed last night.
Were they getting towed from the spot the arrow points to on Lowell's map? Or the larger area on the east of the railroad ventilator access road? I think you mean the former.
Thanks,
John
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Jsper
- [Jsper]
- Offline
- New Member
- Posts: 16
- Thank you received: 0
towed from the arrow labeled "park here".
There was plow action taking place. 😕
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.