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

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.