Snow Emergency

[gib.livejournal.com]

I just received this from the Somerville's snow-alert mailing list:

Based on current weather projections, the City of Somerville will be declaring a snow emergency effective at 10 a.m. Thursday, December 13th. During snow emergencies, parking is allowed on the odd-numbered side of the street only (unless otherwise posted). Cars not moved by 2 p.m. today may be subject to ticketing and towing. Residents unable to find a parking space on the odd-numbered side of the street may park in any municipal lot or, after 3 p.m., in designated school parking lots. Afternoon and evening school activities in Somerville have been cancelled. For additional information, please call the city’s 311 constituent service line, which may also be reach outside the city by dialing 617-666-3311 – or visit the city’s website at www.ci.somerville.ma.us. Thank you.

Comments

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

Very nice - a dual posting at the exact same time! :D heehee

[ron_newman]

I was going to delete the other one, but it has a more explicit headline, so I'll leave both up for the time being.

[kpht.livejournal.com]

I'd delete this one. The other seems more dramatic. I like that.

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

SNOWSTORM 2007...WBZ WILL BE COVERING THIS AMAZING 4-8 INCHES STARTING AT 4AM!

[wildflowersoul.livejournal.com]

It would be awesome if you would delete one (and maybe the one that stays up can be edited to make the subject more explicit, if needed).

[ron_newman]

OK, I'll delete the other one. Deleting this one would delete all the comments, too. I don't have the power to edit someone else's post (not even the Subject).

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

well, the advanced notice is nice, but is 3-5 inches really a "snow emergency"? This is New England. 3-5 inches hardly warrants plowing.

[lizzielizzie.livejournal.com]

I think the predictions vary a bit...i've heard 4-8 inches, with a "heavy snow warning" for the Boston area for much of Thursday afternoon/evening.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

http://www.somervillema.gov/spotlight.cfm?id=46

"A snow emergency may be declared whenever four or more inches are predicted to fall."

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

CNN just predicted 6 - 10 inches, but we'll see.

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

10 am? Seems a bit over eager. Not like the world is going to end if a little snow piles up.

Now that I think of it, can someone explain why this affects parking at all?

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Snowplows need somewhere to put stuff.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Silly snow! "Late enough that school doesn't get cancelled" (I'm a teacher) but "early enough to destroy my husband's evening commute" is wrong on two counts! *sigh* Ah well, thanks for the heads-up.

[somertricky.livejournal.com]

Well, we wound up with two robo-calls this morning; one regarding the snow emergency, the second notifying us that the Trickettes' school (and all other city schools) will be closing at noon today, no after-school.

Given prior events, I'm interested to see if the city tries to tag already disgruntled parents (while stopping to pick up kids early) for "violating a snow emergency".

[gib.livejournal.com]

around 1.30am this morning, i heard an idling engine outside my house. it was a Pat's tow track, sans police car. the tow driver was looking into everyone's windows, both on the odd and even side. he found a victim, and towed him away at around 1.45am.

mind you, this is hours before the 2p.m. deadline later today.

my guess is the Somerville Police department is asking Pat's towing to canvas the area, looking for cars that have lapsed in their registration, thus taking more cars off the street. if you wake up, and your car is missing, i'm guessing this is why.

the last time i went to Pat's tow yard, they threatened me with their dog. i tried to explain that i liked dogs, but they were adamant about the physical harm their canine could offer. this all transpired because i used the wrong entrance to enter their tow yard via my bicycle.

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Three cheers for municipal corruption!

[somertricky.livejournal.com]

I'm anxiously awaiting to see if it's possible for the city to ticket one side of the street for obstructing street sweeping, while ticketing the other side for the snow emergency.

[aquaflame16.livejournal.com]

yeah, I've been wondering myself what would happen, now that the two possibilities overlap during December. In my neighborhood it actually matches up (2nd Thursday on the even side/no parking on even side in snow) but what if we had a snow emergency, let's say, next Wed. (which would be street cleaning on the odd side over here)?
I have to assume the snow emergency would trump the street cleaning (it's not exactly like they're gonna be out there with the sweepers today), but it'd be nice to be reassured that this issue has occurred to someone in the city.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

So, inquiring minds want to know: did the ticketing barrage occur?

[somertricky.livejournal.com]

I don't think so; someone posting as "Tom Champion" (but far snippier online than he is in his robotic telephone capacity, hence the quotes) got all prickly and yelled that if we all called 311, we could have found out that there would be no streetsweeping today.

Like he couldn't have told me that on the phone at 7:00am this morning.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

If you're wondering why you're seeing flashing blue lights today, I found this on the city's website:

"As a newly added notification measure this year, flashing blue lights have been installed at 22 key intersections at entryways to the city. The lights, positioned atop traffic light posts, will be activated immediately after the declaration of a snow emergency, and remain lit for the duration of the snow emergency."

[ron_newman]

One of those blue lights is next to the traffic light in Davis Square, but it was NOT operating when I walked by this morning at 11:15.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Two quickies:

1. Is Elm St. still fair game on the Cambridge side of the street?
2. I assume the Shaws lot is the same as usual (ie 2 hour parking only)?

[timclark.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads up - wish I'd gotten it before I took the T into work though :-/

Oh well. I get to go home early to take care of it.

[ron_newman]

I got robo-called around 7 am, waking me out of a sound sleep. Actually a bit annoying since I don't have a car. There's probably no way to get 311 to call you only for non-parking-related events.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

They'll send you e-mail, and that's good enough for me (and I suspect you, too).

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Yes, we also got woken up out of a sound sleep by the call.

The thing I found frustrating is that when they changed the policy for street cleaning last year they said that winter parking restrictions would go into effect on December 31st.

I called 311 last week and was told that that was still the case, but that street cleaning only happened "weather permitting".

I don't think the city should be able to postpone winter parking restrictions "until we feel like it." Either it starts on December 1st and street cleaning ends, or it starts on December 31st and we'll just have to deal with a messy snow storm.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

IAWTC

Another Robo-call

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Cars towed from West of Central Ave will be towed to the Dilboy field lot.
Cars towed from East of Central Ave will be towed to the Pat's tow lot.

Bring $110 in cash to get your car back.

Re: Another Robo-call

[somertricky.livejournal.com]

The Dilboy field lot? A) That's new, and B) Can they do that? Isn't that owned by the state?

Re: Another Robo-call

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

And what about all the people who usually park there at night? There's plenty of houses on that stretch of Alewife Brook Parkway, and no on-street parking. There are cars parked there every night, so I always assumed overnight parking in that lot was allowed. And Somerville is encouraging people to park in municipal lots during the snow emergency (which Dilboy technically isn't, since it's owned by the DCR, but how are people supposed to know that?).

Re: Another Robo-call

[somertricky.livejournal.com]

Maybe Ron can weigh in. If this is indeed a state-owned parking, what kind of deal does the City have with them, which as far as I can tell basically saves Pat's Tow drivers a cross-town drive with their West Somerville booty.

Re: Another Robo-call

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

I got a quick look at the Dilboy lot last night. The entrances were blocked with sawhorses. There was a tow truck idling in the lot, as well as a few cars which were covered in snow.

So it looks like they were preventing people from parking there. Which is a major disservice, and somewhat corrupt -- first they take away half of the already-scarce on-street parking, then they use the only real alternative in the neighborhood as a place to ransom people's cars instead of just letting them park there themselves without the tow fee.

Re: Another Robo-call

[ron_newman]

I hope the robo-call said Central Street since that's what it's actually called.

Re: Another Robo-call

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Er, yes, sorry about that.

[20-phone-calls.livejournal.com]

This is my first Somerville snow emergency...
How do I know when the emergency is lifted and we can park on the even sides again?

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

This:

http://www.somervillema.gov/Section.cfm?org=admin&page=134

will fill you in on the detail, where you can park, and gives you links to sign up for the e-mail or phone calls. If you're signed up the city will tell you, or you can call in to find out.

Under the new blue light special plan, there are special blue lights at 22 intersections in Somerville, and they'll be on as long as there's a snow emergency.

[ron_newman]

Have you seen any of the blue lights working? The one in Davis Square was NOT on when I walked by around 11:15 this morning.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

That's ridiculous. Once they install the lights and post signs explaining what they are, the city shouldn't be allowed to make people pay parking tickets or tow fees if the lights aren't working.