Snow/Parking Update

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

We just sent this out via Connect CTY:

While the city has NOT declared a snow emergency, the DPW is continuing to salt and sand roads and to remove snow at major intersections and city squares. Despite parking scarcity, residents must NOT park within twenty feet of intersections, obstruct the street, block hydrants or handicapped spaces, or violate resident permit parking. Residents and businesses are also reminded that they are REQUIRED to remove snow and ice from their sidewalks and to put down sand to improve traction. If you do not have access to sand, you may receive a free supply by bringing an empty container of five gallons or less to the DPW yard at 1 Franey Road. To further assist residents, the city will continue to provide overnight parking from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. in designated city and school lots through and including Thursday night. Residents currently in legal curbside spaces have until Thursday morning at 8 a.m. to dig out and move their cars before the city resumes ticketing for parking over 48 hours. Thank you for assisting the city in clearing our roadways. If you need additional information, please visit the city’s website or call 311.

Just so LJ folks know, I have since learned that some 48-hour rule tickets may have been issued by the police . This isn't their fault -- they were authorized to do it -- but anyone who has received a 48-hour violation in the past 12 hours should call 311 right away. They should also PLEASE move their vehicles as soon as humanly possible -- we'll start enforcing on Thursday at 8 a.m., but earlier compliance would be very helpful.

PS Thanks to knowledgeable LJers schpahky and mamajoan for clarifying that the city will continue to street-sweep as and where we are able (we do tht all winter), but we won't be ticketing.
Tags: local government, parking, snow emergency


Current Location: office
Current Mood: frantic
Current Music: ringing phones

Comments

[ron_newman]

Thanks for all your efforts, Tom.

But the city needs to clear sidewalks next to its own property as well. Just try walking down the Day Street sidewalk next to the metered lot. That's a very heavily used sidewalk, going from Mass. Ave. to Davis Square and a post office.

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

I don't disagree. Have you called 311 to get a DPW work order number?

[ron_newman]

I tried to call 311 last night, and nobody answered after 10 minutes. So I called Rebekah and left a message for her instead.

[georgy.livejournal.com]

Just had to share that a few months ago, I started a Facebook group for everyone's favorite civil servant:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6510621060

Enjoy!

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

311 has, in fact, been slammed. There are a lot more operators on the day shift but, of course, Rebekah has already been in touch. Don't forget that you can also initiate a 311 service request online.

[veek.livejournal.com]

Tom, thanks for this. I'm curious: if, say, I want to make life easier for the street sweepers, do I assume they'll be sweeping on the same schedule as usual? Or is it more sporadic/differently scheduled?

[ron_newman]

There are some temporary cardboard No Parking signs in front of my building on Day Street, which I assume are basically a "local snow emergency" to allow the city to try to plow there one more time.

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

This is sooooo out of control.

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

More sporadic and weather dependent -- or "opportunistic" as they say in the street-sweeping biz. Please don't worry about trying to to get out of the way when we're not enforcing -- but thanks for thinking of us.

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

Kee-rect.

[ifotismeni]

are you related to sam champion by any chance?

[ifotismeni]

joined!

[aquaflame16.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this. I was just thinking when I got the call that it would be great if you would start automatically posting the CTY alerts here, so cool!
And thank you very much for the (it seems to me) increased amount of communication recently. It really makes me feel a lot better about the city and makes me a lot more inclined to want to do the things that will be helpful for snow clearing (or whatever other situations) rather than resenting having to move my car for little discernible reason and winding up doing just the minimum to avoid a ticket because I'm annoyed/frustrated/motivated only by not getting ticketed/whatever.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I've tried to do this, but I've never had any luck with it -- it seems like any request you have to submit has to be categorized? And somehow the categories I'm looking for are never there. Am I missing something?

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

Every legal curbside spot in the city: meter, permit, whatever. All are subject to the 48-hour rule, which is, however, in abeyance until Thursday at 8 a.m.

[bryant]

Thanks -- this is very helpful!

[shana-lyons.livejournal.com]

Ditto.

I feel like the city has really stepped up the communication in the last few years. You guys are to be commended for it! It makes Somerville much more liveable. I'm sure you hear what's WRONG alot, so here's to something that's going right.

On a side note, this a prime example of why the DSLJ is actually more useful than our newspapers.

[tomchampion.livejournal.com]

Not that I know of. He hails from Kentucky, and my branch of Champions settled in Branch County, Michigan in the 1840s, spreading later to California, North and South. My celebrity relative is the late dancer/choreographer/director Gower Champion (first cousin once removed).

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

More generally, you aren't supposed to park in the same spot for more than 48 hours ever, regardless of the time of year or weather conditions. It's just that when there's a snowstorm, a) it becomes more urgent to clear the roads as much as possible, and b) it's easier to identify the cars that have not been moved since the snow began.

[m-b-w.livejournal.com]

When I haven't been sure of the right category, I've just guessed. If I've been wrong, the department that received the request has forwarded it to the proper department.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

If you have the wrong category, send it anyway. They'll forward it around to the right department. If you get a tracking number, you can even track your query bouncing from department to department until it's answered. It's pretty cool!

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

My comment on clearing your car -- I've seen many on "major roads" (Broadway, Powderhouse Blvd) that are completely buried, packed in. What if these people haven't been physically able to dig themselves out? What then?

I'll allow for the fact that many of these people are lazy louts who should have gone out in the first place and not let it get this bad but what if they were away during the beginning of the storm and came back after it had all packed down?

Also, what if you clear out and the plows, plow you in making it LOOK like you didn't clear out when you did?

I'm asking this in the name of curiosity. I, so thankfully, have a driveway but I do worry about street parkers having been one for many years.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Or the sidewalk along the bus access to the Davis T stop...it's horrible.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Ha, me too!

[starry83.livejournal.com]

So I have a question ---
I dug my car out very nicely. I drove it today, and mercifully got my same nice spot again. How does the city know this? In other words, if drive and then move back to my same spot without a parking officer seeing me, will I get a 48 hour ticket (as of Thursday)?