The Snoqualmie Valley School District said Puget Sound Energy (PSE) had restored service to all of its schools after Sunday’s powerful windstorm left thousands of Valley homes without power.
Early Monday morning, January 7th, SVSD announced that all schools would open on time today, but transportation routes would be adjusted for the hard hit area of Wilderness Rim in eastern North Bend and Ames Lake in the Redmond/Fall City area.
Regular SVSD bus transportation routes will be provided to all areas – with the exception of Wilderness Rim and Ames Lake, which are still impacted by wind damage, including downed trees and power lines. The front/main entrance to the Wilderness Rim neighborhood was still blocked Monday morning, so all buses will be re-routed through The Uplands entrance – with routes 7, 9, 10 and 15 adjusted.
In the Ames Lake area, route 32, all students will get picked up at NE Ames Lake Road @ NE 40th Street. For Wilderness Rim Route 7 — Students on 160th and Cedar Falls Way will be served with an alternate bus, so high school students will need to transfer buses at Twin Falls Middle School to continue on to Mount Si High School. For Routes 9 and 10 — No changes to bus stop locations, except for no stop at the main entrance.
SVSD said in the announcement: “The Transportation Department will send changes to those specific routes using Bus Bulletin notifications by 6:15 a.m. We will also post the changes on the website once they are available.”
Residents were asked to allow a little more time for pickups to those areas, as the district and drivers worked to ensure safe passage for all students. In Wilderness Rim it was advised that bus riders should plan the the regular pick up time and allow 5-10 extra minutes as buses will enter through the Uplands and drive the “loop” twice.
Nearly 900 homes in the Wilderness Rim area remain without power. PSE said it still has about 54,000 customers impacted by the storm – down from about 250,000 following Sunday’s storm.
