Police Chief Edward Deveau announced the end of the winter parking ban.
The winter parking ban in Watertown ends on Saturday, March 30, announced Police Chief Edward Deveau. The ban prevents people from parking their cars overnight during the winter months. While the ban will be lifted, Department of Public Works officials said that keeping streets clear helps workers repair roads. The ban began after Thanksgiving.
On-street parking will be banned during the snow emergency.
Watertown officials declared a snow emergency starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday due to the storm forecast to hit the area. On Friday, the Public Works Department and the Emergency Management Team announced the snow emergency. During the emergency on-street parking will be prohibited. The snow emergency will remain in effect until further notice. With parking prohibited on town streets, residents can use designated off street parking areas: Other areas include the municipal lot in Watertown Square.
Decision on lifting the ban could be made after Town officials meet Monday morning.
The earliest the Watertown's parking ban will be lifted is Monday morning, but it could last longer. Town officials will meet Monday morning to discuss the how the clean up of Watertown's streets after the Blizzard of 2013, said Public Works Superintendent Gerald Mee. "The parking ban is still in effect because of the narrow streets," Mee said. "We need to keep them free of cars so fire vehicles can get through, and for garbage trucks." Sidewalks have proven particularly difficult, Mee said, because of the depth of the snow. "It is extremely difficult. There is no sidewalk tractor that can deal with 4 and 5 feet of snow drifts," Mee said. "And there is no where for the snow to go, it is so high." The first priority for sidewalks will be …
Efforts continue to try to remove the snow from town streets, but much remains.
As crews try to remove the mountains of snow from Watertown's streets, the Snow Emergency and street parking ban continue. The snow on the side of the roads is 5 feet deep in most areas, said Ed Baptista, the highway supervisor for the Department of Public works. "There's so much snow. It's crazy!" Baptista said. Work clearing sidewalks has also been delayed, Baptista said. Snow clearing efforts were also hampered by a broke fire hydrant on Mt. Auburn Street on Saturday. The decision about whether the Watertown Public Schools will be open Monday has not been announced. Follow Patch for updates on closings and other Blizzard of 2013 information.
There are many different winter parking laws in cities and towns throughout the Greater Boston Area. Watertown's own policy hasn't changed for decades.
Three adjoining cities. Three different overnight winter parking policies. (And if you didn't know which city had which policy, you could probably guess, if you knew their "munici-personalities.") In Cambridge overnight on-street parking is allowed all winter. (Hence, the picturesque sight of Cantabrigian vehicles buried by the snowplows after a storm.) Watertown does not allow on-street parking in the winter (1 a.m. to 7 a.m.), and the town can announce a parking ban during the daytime if a snow storm is anticipated. Waltham's winter parking policy might be considered the "middle-of-the-road" one: overnight parking is allowed, unless a storm is brewing, in which case all vehicles must be off the roads until the plows have do their job and…
8:55 pm on Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Elizabeth: well, at least you're not alone, as I reported, since about half the respondents in a recent poll were against the winter parking ban. Expressing your opinion to your city councilor is one option, if you haven't already. That's the only way they find out what citizens are thinking. My own councilor has been responsive in the past to concerns I've had. It's part of their job. And thanks… more ›
Steven Cavaretta
4:57 am on Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Rob the Town Council passed an ordinance prohibiting plow drivers and/or snow thrower operators moving snow onto the public streets and sidewalks from private property. It has been in effect over a year. Charlie please verify. The problem is that it is at the "officers discretion" to cite offenders. As most of the offenders are contractors who hire police details the cops won't dare offend anyone… more ›