The Rock & Roll Half Marathon is coming to Dallas this Sunday.  It starts at 8 a.m. at City Hall in Downtown and winds through Uptown, Oak Lawn, Highland Park, East Dallas, and ends at Fair Park.  There is a 4-hour course limit.

Here is a course map and an interactive map of street closures.

I received this update this morning from First Asst. City Manager Ryan Evans:

We have received about five inches of snow and another two to three inches may fall before this stops somewhere around noon.  Temperatures are expected to peak around 24 degrees so there will be little to no melting.  Around 11 am tomorrow the temperature is expected to reach 32 degrees with highs in the 40s.  So, there will be fairly rapid melting tomorrow.

• Several media outlets have reported that the City is closed for business today.  That is incorrect and the outlets have been notified.
• All facilities with the exception of municipal court jury trials and the following libraries will be open although they will be minimally staffed.  Citizens can still go to the city courts building to pay and the proof or plea docket is open.
• We have been unable to open some libraries due to staff unable to make it to work. Those libraries include:
• Arcadia
• Dallas West
• Forest Green
• Fretz Park
• Hampton
• Highland Hills
• Kleberg
• Lakewood
• MLK
• Mountain Creek
• Oak Lawn
• Pleasant Grove
• Polk Wisdom
• Skillman
• We have 60 sand trucks in operation focusing on emergency response routes, hospitals, fire  and police stations, bridges, overpasses and viaducts.  When these are sanded they will move on to major arterials.
• TXDOT is focusing on the freeways.
• Garbage pickup, which we had hoped to start back up today or tomorrow is further suspended until regular pickup times next week.
• Love Field is closed.  One runway has been cleared of snow and deicing is being applied.
• DFW Airport is open to arriving flights but over 120 departing flights have been cancelled.
• The Emergency Operations Center is operational.
• We continue to have very few Super Bowl event complications.

Here’s a  good news article from The Dallas Morning News that explains why so many of our residential streets have not been cleared of ice/snow.

FROM ATMOS GAS:

Atmos Energy, the largest distributor of natural gas in Texas, has seen record demands for gas due to the extremity of the cold weather in North Texas. According to John Paris, president of Atmos Energy Mid-Tex Division, “Our system has performed admirably due to a lot of preparation and the dedication of our service personnel who have been working around the clock. A curtailment order was issued for noon today by Atmos Energy. We are either curtailing or interrupting all industrial customers North of I-30 in the Dallas, Rockwall, and Tarrant counties. In addition, all industrial customers are curtailed or interrupted in Denton, Collin, Cooke and Grayson counties. This curtailment order to industrials is issued to ensure adequate supply to our residential and commercial customers.” Paris also noted, “The forecast continues to call for frigid temperatures over the next several days which means we still have severe weather ahead of us.” Again, it is imperative that customers conserve energy by:

• Setting thermostats to 65 degrees. Keeping warm by insulating yourself with sweaters and jackets.
• Limiting early morning hot water use! Taking showers, doing dishes and laundry in the late afternoon and early evening prevents additional use at the peak wake-up time.
• Limiting opening doors, etc. If possible, use the smallest living space you can, and reduce the temperature in unused spaces to 60.
• Closing blinds and drapes to keep heat in unless there is direct sunlight available to help warm the space.

If a customer experiences any problem with their gas service, they should call 888-286-6700. The company asks for patience as some response times have been affected due to hazardous driving conditions.

UPDATE ON GARBAGE PICK UP

Just in from Asst. City Manager Ryan Evans:

Residential street conditions are still such that it is not safe for sanitation trucks to maneuver.  The trucks are at risk for sliding into curbs and parked cars.  Because of this situation, the City will suspend collection until Friday at which point we plan to collect the Tuesday, Thursday and Friday collection areas.  We plan to be finished by Saturday, but if not we will continue into Sunday.  Normal collection and recycling will return to normal schedule next week.  If your constituents call your office let them know to keep their carts out.

UPDATE ON POWER OUTAGES

Just in from Oncor:

Oncor, the electric transmission and distribution company serving most of North Texas, is in the process of temporarily turning off power across its service territory to compensate for unexpected generation loss in the areas of the state served by the

Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Oncor, which does not own any generation, along with other transmission and distribution utilities across Texas are taking direction from ERCOT to manage the situation. By temporarily turning off power in a controlled manner, ERCOT is attempting to prevent uncontrolled outages from occurring across the state.

While the length of the outage for each individual customer can vary in length, Oncor is working very hard to ensure that no outage lasts longer than 30 minutes. If a customer’s outage lasts longer than 30 minutes, they should call 888.313.4747 because they may be experiencing an outage caused by weather or other reasons.

ERCOT, which manages the electricity grid across most of the state, made the demand for controlled outages across the state after some generating plants unexpectedly went off line shortly before 6 a.m. Wednesday which, when coupled with the significant electricity demand from the severe cold weather, created an electricity shortage.

At this time, it is unclear how long the rolling outages will last. ERCOT is closely monitoring both supply and demand for the electricity in most of the state.

Just received this update from First Asst. City Manager Ryan Evans:

ROLLING POWER OUTAGES

Councilmembers, we continue to have more than 60 sanding trucks on our streets.  Love Field now has one runway open.  Oncor has initiated rolling brownouts around the State to conserve power.  Your neighborhoods most likely will be impacted.  Oncor states the outages should last from 15 to 45 minutes.  They do not know when this will be suspended.

GARBAGE PICK-UP

Council members, in response to hazardous traffic conditions caused by the winter storm, The City of Dallas Sanitation Services Department is modifying its garbage and recycling collection schedule for the remainder of this week. Dallas garbage customers will have their materials collected on the following schedule:

• Tuesday garbage customers will have their garbage picked up on Tuesday and Wednesday
• Thursday garbage customers will have their garbage picked up on Thursday, Friday and Saturday if necessary
• Friday garbage customers will have their garbage picked up on Friday and Saturday

Residents should place their garbage carts out for service on their normal collection day and leave them out until City crews collect the materials. No citations will be issued for carts left out past the normal collection day.

Operationally, the regular garbage collection drivers will work their regular shifts.  As it will not be possible to complete their routes within the shift, the recycling drivers will assume responsibility for the regular garbage routes after the first drivers complete their shift.

THIS MEANS REGULAR GARBAGE WILL BE PICKED UP ACCORDING TO THE SCHEDULE ABOVE.  RECYCLING WILL NOT BE PICKED UP THIS WEEK.  Recycling will return to normal schedule next week.

Brush collection will not be affected.

I will continue to update as I get more information.  (Sorry for not posting weather info yesterday; I was having website issues.  My site may be up and down over the next few days as we do some technical updates, but I’ll do my best to keep you posted on weather issues.)

This Sunday, December 5, the White Rock Marathon will wind its way through East Dallas and Uptown starting at 8 AM. The finish line closes at 2:30 PM.  This is the first year the marathon will start and end at Fair Park.

Here is a map of the full marathon route as well the half marathon.

Driving in the area will be a challenge, so you may want to plan ahead and avoid these streets or better yet, take a walk down to the route and cheer the runners on!

UPDATE:

See when your street will be affected by the marathon (from runtherock.com):

7:00am – 9:00am
S. Haskell Ave heading northwest to Swiss Ave – Swiss Ave southwest to Texas Street – Texas Street northwest to Bryan St – Bryan St. southwest to Boll St – Boll St. northwest to N. Central Expy. access road.

8:00am – 10:00am
N. Central Expy. access road north to Ross Avenue – Ross Ave southwest to Leonard St. – Leonard St. northwest to Flora St. – Flora St. southwest to Pearl St. – N Pearl St northwest to McKinney – McKinney Ave north to Hall St. – N. Hall St northwest to Turtle Creek Blvd – N Turtle Creek Blvd to N. Fitzhugh Ave – north on Lakeside Dr. through the Town of Highland Park to Beverly Dr. – Beverly Dr east to Abbot Ave – Abbott Ave north to Cornell Ave – Cornell Ave. east to Airline – Airline to the southbound I-75 Access Road.

9:00am – 12:00pm
McCommas Blvd bridge over I-75 – northbound I-75 Access Road Longview St. – Longview St to Greenville Ave – Greenville Ave to Ellsworth Ave – Ellsworth Ave to Frontier Ln – Frontier Ln to Bob O Link Dr. – Bob O Link Dr. to Williamson Road – Williamson Rd to W Lawther Dr – W Lawther Dr to Mockingbird Ln – West Mockingbird Ln access road across the Mockingbird Lane bridge west bound traffic side to E Lawther Dr.- E Lawther Dr. to Garland Rd to Winsted Dr – Winsted Dr to White Rock Rd – White Rock Rd to W Lawther Dr – W Lawther Dr to Tokalon Dr- Tokalon Dr to Lakeshore Dr – Lakeshore Dr to Winsted Dr – Winsted Dr to Lakewood Blvd – Lakewood Blvd Lakeshore D – Lakeshore Dr Cambria Blvd – Cambria Blvd to Lakewood Blvd.In addition – Greenville Ave to McCommas Blvd – McCommas Blvd to Matilda St southbound lanes of Matilda St to Ross Ave – Ross Ave to Greenville Ave – Greenville Ave. to where Greenville Ave turns into N. Munger Blvd – N. Munger Blvd to Live Oak Street to N. Haskell Ave – N. Haskell Ave to Parry Ave

10:00am – 3:00pm
Lakewood to Abrams Rd – Belmont Ave to Cecille St – Cecille St to Richmond Ave. – Richmond Ave to Empire Dr – Empire Dr. to La Vista Dr – La Vista Dr to Swiss Ave – Swiss Ave to N Haskell Ave – Haskell Ave to Parry Ave.

I received the following announcement about street closures related to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Dallas Half Marathon on Sunday, March 14:

Please mark your calendar for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Dallas Half Marathon on Sunday, March 14. Residents, businesses and organizations along the course will receive a detailed “road closure brochure” in the mail this week.

PDF versions of our course map and road closure grid are available on our website. If you are affiliated with a community group or business along the route, please share this information with your members and/or employees.

You’re invited to get involved with this exciting event. Spectators are encouraged to line the route to cheer 15,000 runners and walkers towards the finish line. Volunteers are still needed at the Expo, Start Line and Finish Line. Please sign up online.

Thank you,

Community Relations Department
Rock ‘n’ Roll Dallas Half Marathon
Sunday, March 14, 2010

http://dallas.competitor.com/event-info/course/road-closures