snow emergency still?

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

No notification yet from the city on whether/when the snow emergency will be lifted. Safe to move my car y/n?? Discuss.

Comments

[ron_newman]

With another storm expected late Saturday night, it would make sense to just keep the emergency in effect for a while.

[shu-al.livejournal.com]

If the bot hasn't called to say it's lifted, and you haven't gotten an email to that effect either, the next place I would check for offical info is:

http://www.somervillema.gov/

or call 617-628-7669. The recording there is from yesterday, so I'm going to assume the emergency is still on.

[wildflowersoul.livejournal.com]

Ok, seriously, do we need two posts in a row about this?

this post (http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1078185.html) addresses the same issue.

Bonus: It was also answered here (http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1075489.html?thread=10173473#t10173473) yesterday.

[ron_newman]

I'll keep this one and delete the previous one. -- Your friendly moderator

[ron_newman]

Oh, those lights are working somewhere? As far as I can tell, the Davis Square snow-emergency light never operated at all yesterday.

[wildflowersoul.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Ron.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

It's sad that I learn about what's coming up weather-wise from you, Ron.

[ron_newman]

I'm paying more attention than usual because I'm supposed to volunteer for the Illuminations Tour tomorrow night, and hope it doesn't get disrupted by the next storm.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Sorry if it seemed like repetition to you; to me it was a very different question. Those ones were asking for facts: "how will I know when the snow emergency is over?" Whereas mine was asking for opinions: "do you think it's safe to risk moving my car?" (and also, implied, "do you think the snow emergency will be lifted sometime today?")

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Schools are closed today, which frees up the school lots that're used for snow emergency parking. That says to me that it'll be the end of today before they lift it, if they lift it then.

But on a more comic note, if you don't move your car every 48 hours you can get a ticket for that, too.

Have you tried calling 311?

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah! I forgot about the whole idiotic 48-hour thing! Ugh.

I just drove my kids to school and came back home and now am back in the same parking space again. Do you think that counts as having moved the car?

And yes, I did try calling 311, but at the time I originally posted this, it was before 8am so I just got the recorded "you've reached the city of Somerville after business hours."

[ron_newman]

It would still have been better to add comments to the previous post on the subject instead of making a new one. The only reason I kept this one and deleted the earlier one is that this one had more comments.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

I can't claim to channel the Meter Men-Maids, but I've seen people complain for getting dinged for that exact thing before. OTOH, clearing the snow off should be a subtle signal that you moved it.

School isn't the Somerville Public Schools, right?

[ron_newman]

Yes, it should. Mostly what they care about is that a car doesn't stay in the same place, covered with snow and plowed in, for more than two days.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Sorry, my bad -- "school" is private daycare. I guess by this time next year (my son will be in kindergarten) I won't have to ask things like this, because I'll just know that the schools are closed and hence the snow emergency is still on. Oh, that's gonna be fun. *groan*

[shana-lyons.livejournal.com]

Where is this mythical light?

Someone mentioned flashing blue snow emergency lights at my workplace yesterday. I thought they meant the light on the Old John Hancock Building downtown, but then that didn't make sense since flashing blue would mean clouds were coming. I've lived here 10 years and I had no idea there were snow emergency lights.

[ron_newman]

It's next to one of the traffic lights above the middle of Davis Square, with a little sign next to it saying something like SNOW EMERGENCY WHEN BLINKING. I only noticed it a few months ago, so I think it's new this year. A great idea, but only if it actually works as intended.

[enhf94.livejournal.com]

Ball Square is working.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

FYI, the snow emergency has been lifted as of 11am today.

http://www.somervillema.gov/alert.cfm?alert_id=94

[jennyelfenmass.livejournal.com]

Yet my friend who drove to work every day the week we had a snowstorm in Feb 07, still got ticketed for being parked more than 48 hours. When she argued the ticket (with proof that she had gone to work in Burlington), Somerville basically said "We didn't make a mistake, but as a one time courtesy we'll remove the ticket. Don't expect us to be so nice next time." At least the ticket was removed, but it really made me wonder about the competence of those enforcing the 48 hour rule.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip. And I finally did get the email too, shortly after you posted this.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Oh, they're perfectly competent. At extorting money from you.

[grateful1311.livejournal.com]

if you press 0 when you hear that recording you will get a live person.
just an FYI.

[eeyorecol.livejournal.com]

The weather report that I saw today said that the snow wouldn't start until midnight on Saturday night - just in time for people to drive home from Christmas parties! Yeah!

I am also looking because my mom is super excited about the Illuminations Tour. I am, too, but I'm a huge Christmas dork (my excuse is that it is my birthday). :-)