Massachusuetts City Finally Lifts Longest-Ever Snow Emergency
This is was Somerville, Massachusetts, looked like last month. Flickr user Todd Van Hoosear via CC BY-SA 2.0
City of Somerville to its residents: “Feel free to dance, sing, and celebrate.” But be sure to read the fine print.
Wednesday’s high temperature in Somerville, Massachusetts, was forecasted to be in the low 50s. And after long stretch of bitterly cold winter temperatures and storms that dumped more than 100 inches of snow on some parts of the Boston area, those warmer temperatures were most certainly welcome.
But there’s even more reason to celebrate in Somerville, a city of more than 75,000 residents located adjacent to Boston and Cambridge. The city lifted its snow emergency, the longest ever in the municipality’s history, on Wednesday morning. It had been in effect since Feb. 8.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the city government noted: “Feel free to dance, sing, and celebrate however you need to before reading the rest of the information.”
Yes, even though the snow emergency is no more, there’s still a lot of fine print for residents to know, especially when it comes to their parked cars:
- The citywide snow emergency and parking ban has been lifted as of 8 a.m. on Wednesday, March 10. Please keep reading for important information.
- Cars may now park on both sides of the street unless otherwise posted. However, drivers must leave 12 feet of clearance between their car and the car parked opposite them or they may be ticketed and towed. The vehicle parked farthest from the curb will be towed, regardless of which side of the street that vehicle is on. As always, regulations require cars to be within one foot of the curb.
- All cars must be cleared of snow by 8 a.m. Friday or they may be ticketed and towed.
- All parking meters are back in effect (as of 10 a.m. Weds.)
- Residents parked in municipal lots will had until 10 a.m. Weds. to move their cars from the lots. Cars that have not been moved will be ticketed and towed.
- Storm cleanup, including snow removal, repairs to streets, curbs, signs, meters, and more, is an ongoing process. We thank you for your patience.
- Winter safety info: click here.
- Contact us: If you have non-emergency questions, call 311 (617-666-3311) or visit our Facebook and Twitter feeds. For any emergencies, always call 911.
- Get tips on preventing flooding and dealing with melting snow here.</blockquote>
Somerville, like other New England cities trying to deal with the excessive snow, had opened up municipal parking lots and other off-street locations for residents to park their vehicles to make it easier for public works crews to clear the streets.
The city of Boston, which lifted its ban on parking along major arteries two weeks ago, has a neighborhood-by-neighborhood online guide for parking alternatives during snow emergencies.
(Photo by Flickr user Todd Van Hoosear via CC BY-SA 2.0)