Posted on 10/16/2021 7:07:13 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
SEATTLE (AP) — The Washington State Department of Transportation has closed five rest areas north of Seattle along Interstate 5 because of excessive trash, vandalism and a staffing shortage.
Rest areas closed Friday in both directions at Smokey Point between Marysville and Arlington and both directions at Custer, north of Bellingham, The Seattle Times reported.
“We’ve seen broken toilets, broken sinks and stalls,” agency spokesperson Bart Treece, who noted maintenance crew members work in pairs for safety now, said. “Some people extend their stays and leave trash.”
The southbound Silver Lake rest area in South Everett, which was already closed, will remain shut.
The closures will last at least three months and will be reevaluated in 2022, the agency said.
Normally, four full-time workers maintain the Smokey Point and South Everett rest areas, but there’s only one employed there, Treece said. That’s part of a 32-person shortage in maintenance workers in northwest Washington, caused in part when fears of recession led to a hiring freeze early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Washington State Law (truncated)
RCW 47.38.020
Limitations on use of rest areas.
(1) it is unlawful for any person or persons to stop, stand, or park any vehicle, for more than eight hours within a twenty-four hour period, or for any person or persons to camp or to maintain a camp, tent...
(2) it is unlawful for any person or persons to stop, stand, or park any disabled vehicle, in any safety rest area for more than forty-eight hours, after which time the vehicle is subject to mandatory impoundment...
(3) ...
(4) The Washington state patrol shall enforce this section consistent with RCW 46.55.080(1), and to the maximum extent practicable.
Truth.
Homeless camps are dangerous with drug crazed violence stemming from frivolous petty conflicts.
I was stationed in Bremerton, WA back in 1968...That was a beautiful area with plenty to do...Hiking, fishing, etc...
Seattle was a cool, friendly place back then...
These towns are well north of Seattle - the closest is about 40 minutes north of Seattle. I wouldn’t expect these problems that far north. On the other hand, the I-5 corridor through Seattle is littered with homeless encampments, trash, and graffiti.
No, that goofy a$$ faggot is too busy pretending to be a mommy. Milo destroyed Mayor Pete here , in a three piece article.
https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/author/milochurchmilitant.com
Part 1 is on Sept 10, and then there are two more parts.
Thanks for the link. He’s a nutjob - but then, he’s a Socialist Democrat, so that goes with the territory.
*BLECH*
Beat-up old RVs are now a common sight in my area about a mile north of Seattle. They generally stay in one place for several weeks before they move on, whether voluntarily or by the order of the police. It is common for trash and junk to accumulate around them, often piled into stolen shopping carts. I see as many as thirty shopping carts a day along the street near my local supermarket, some filled with junk, some overturned in ditches. Just a few years ago, you might see one cart every month or two.
69 was my last trip up that way.
Treece described Friday’s closures as interim steps until staffing levels improve. Any permanent closures would need federal permission because interstate standards typically mandate a rest area every 60 miles (96 kilometers), a state planning manual says.
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Mandated vaccinations vs mandated rest stops. Interesting.
” I-5 Oregon
It’s a shame to see how the entire West coast has changed over the decades. I was born in Oregon and have family and friends in California, Oregon and Washington. When I was much younger we used to travel back that way on vacations.
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Indeed. I traveled as a young kid to Seattle with my family many decades ago. We happened to visit the city on a bright sunny day. The whole city just sparkled, and the views were fantastic. In that same trip, we also traveled down to San Francisco; a city at the time which was also remarkably clean and as my Mom noted, there were flowers everywhere.
Now, with videos I’ve seen, it’s tragic how those cities have fallen.
They still collect taxes to operate the rest areas.
By stopping the COVID HYSTERIA.
Wow - Gibson Island. What would you do there and how did you get in? Do they open the gates for licensed events?
So sad that America is turning to FILTH!!
Pay toilets. Pay water for sinks. Pay towel dispensers.
I think the common point there is that those toll turnpikes are EXTREMELY limited-access highways.
Exactly my question - why aren’t state police clearing out these vagrants?
Oh no, that wouldn’t be nice!
Society is crumbling and it is crumbling fast.
Carlson’s roll call of injustice just last night was shocking. We live in a police state of selective enforcement and unequal punishment that has turned into full up political persecution. The judges and prosecutors have become equal to or worse than the Nazi judges tried at Nuremberg. We are now living in a parallel world to that without the salute. We have a sham of Liberty.
Watch what happens to the radicals that invaded the interior department yesterday.
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