Those of you who bothered to get your cars off the street, congratulations. You will be able to move them back after noon today. Everyone else, enjoy digging yourselves out.
That’s if you were lucky and had your car left on the street.
The Hartford Traffic Division issued over 500 parking tickets and had more than 200 vehicles towed by one this morning.
A postcard was sent from the City of Hartford’s Department of Public Works days ago reminding residents what is meant by a “snow parking ban” and where to park. The City of Hartford has a map showing some of the parking locations. What is not on this map are all of the schools, where residents are also allowed to park during snow parking bans. If you do not know what schools are near you, look at the Hartford Public Schools’ website for a list of locations. There are schools in nearly every neighborhood, including in and just outside of Downtown.
If none of the City-approved off-street parking locations work, to speak with neighbors. Not everyone uses all of their available parking spaces and most people are friendly. We do not know who every car on the street belongs to, but you know if your car has no alternate place to be parked.
The Department of Public Works asks residents to park cars off-street whenever snow is forecast, not just when the City has to mandate a parking ban.
To keep streets safe, the DPW asks residents not to shovel or blow snow into the roads.
If there is a “heavy snow storm,” the DPW suggests residents not waste their time moving trash and recycling carts to the curb until the following week. (Seems like common sense, but we saw people on Twitter posting annoyed messages yesterday when workers were not collecting waste in the middle of the storm) Also, make sure you have cleared an area for those carts — snow doesn’t usually melt in two days. Workers and pedestrians do not need to contend with the potential of toppling carts.
Residents are also responsible for shoveling sidewalks and driveways within five hours after the storm ends. Fire hydrants should be cleared of snow and there should be a clear path to hydrants. This all seems like common sense, but the message has made it into print for a reason.
