Snow policies

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

I thought I remembered that if there's a certain amount of snow, we ARE allowed to throw the snow into the street when we shovel it. Do I remember incorrectly? and if not, what is the magic amount? Have we hit it yet?

I'm a little concerned about my back, to throw the snow on top of the pile that's already as tall as I am...

Also, does there come a point when Somerville OFFICIALLY says "You know what? No, you can't park on the even side of the street until further notice, sorry." We know that there's been towing, but it would be nice to know of an official policy...

Does anyone official read this anymore who can give official answers? Does Ron count as official? B-)

Comments

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I believe you may be looking for this tidbit: http://library.municode.com/html/11580/level3/PII_C12_AI.html#PII_C12_AI_s12-9

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

YES. that was what I was looking for. Unfortunately, it's phenomenally unhelpful... We're not likely to have 40 degree means any time soon...

On to plan B: make a HUGE pile on the sidewalk, and dig a tunnel through it for pedestrians. Bonus: The next time it snows I won't have to shovel at all!

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

It has been impossible for anyone to even try to park on the even side of my street, for at least a couple of weeks. I don't think anyone has attempted to shovel out a space, either. The snow left behind by the plows extends 4 feet past the curb into the street, and is 2-4 feet deep. "We're going to plow to the curb this time" my ass.

Or maybe the city did that intentionally, to prevent people from thinking maybe just maybe they could safely park kinda sorta close to the curb.

Here's hoping we see some 40F days soon.

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

A DPW worker did just come to our door to let us know that it is highly likely the city will ban parking on *either* side of our street (Willow Ave) tonight. He seems to be making his way from door-to-door though I doubt everyone is home at this hour.

[squirrelitude]

Is it a ban for snow removal purposes?

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

Are they putting up signs so people who come by at 6:00 will know that they can't park there?

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

He didn't come out and say that, despite my asking directly. He just said that we should be prepared to move our cars from the street tonight.
I can't find anything official via the website or calling 311.

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen any yet - and have called 311 to ask.

[kdsorceress.livejournal.com]

.....where will this tunnel be, as I totally want to run back and fourth through it and maybe draw pretty designs on the inside or something.

~Sor

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Why should they do that when there's all that tasty, tasty revenue to be collected? < /cynical>

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

Throwing more snow in the street where it's just going to stay until the next plow comes along doesn't help either.

I was surprised by the number of smaller streets close into the square where no one was parking on the even side at all. I guess no one wanted to dig out a spot only to lose it when they run an errand. I also noticed that a lot of homeowners still hadn't dug out their sidewalks very well, even with a couple of milder days over the weekend.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Yeah, throw snow in the street. Who cares about cyclists, anyway? It's not like their(our) lives are hard enough during the winter as it is.

[josephineave.livejournal.com]

I'm considering investing in a trebuchet to throw snow at the cyclists. Why leave it to chance?

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

You'll really enjoy driving without any side view mirrors.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

One of the nasty things about tossing snow in the street (especially busier streets) is that you're driving along a totally dry road then suddenly there's an ice slick where some thoughtless person tossed snow into the street, the street becomes quite hazardous to drive in. If it's near a corner, or if a cat jumps out, or even if a pedestrian is walking along, a car might not be able to avoid a nasty incident.

OH HELL YES.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

This could be the beginning of a beautiful arms race. Get SCUL and the artisan's asylum folks involved and we could have pedal-powered, arduino-driven flying-snowball interceptors mounted on a bike versus a laser-rangefinder-targeted snow ball cannon.

[ron_newman]

I drove without a right mirror for years -- I don't think they are legally required (or at least weren't in the 90s when I had that car)

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

In authoritarianchusetts? I'd be surprised, I guess, if that's so.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

bwahahahaha

Re: OH HELL YES.

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

I would pay money to see this!

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

This is why we're not allowed to do it unless the weather has a mean about 40degrees... if the mean is 40 degrees, it's unlikely to freeze...

And I understand why not to do it, it's just a matter of where do I put the extra 16 inches I'm going to get on Wednesday? Pretty much anywhere I put it, it falls back into the sidewalk, which defeats the purpose.

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

Well, if it comes down to dumping it in the street and letting the cars running over it melt it, or leaving it for the pedestrians to deal with... Well, there's a whole lot more pedestrians on my street than bicyclists. And anyone who's biking in this weather is more than a little crazy to begin with.

Granted, it ends up freezing, and that becomes unsafe for everyone, so I'm not going to do it, if I have any choice in the matter.

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

East Arlington right now has a parking ban...only allowing parking on one side of the street and it has been like that for a couple of days. I dont know why they wont do that here...it is so hard to drive home because of all the one way streets near me with double sided parking. Last night there was a war because 3 cars were going one way and 2 wanted to go the other way and there was no driveway to pull in, no space to pull over in...they ended up having to back up to Broadway! Also this morning a big box truck was stuck on Day St and I couldnt get to the post office.

Re: OH HELL YES.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

SCUL is smart enough to not go on missions during the season of hostile weather.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

I don't know about now, but they were definitely optional through the 1990's.