Duluth Officials: Adjustments Made for Latest Snow Emergency
DULUTH, Minn.- City of Duluth officials say they are ready for their second snow emergency, which will run from 9 p.m. Tuesday, February 22, through 6 p.m. Wednesday, February 23.
This declaration means there will be no parking allowed on the roughly 120 miles of city streets that have been designated snow emergency routes. A map of those streets can be found here.
“The purpose of a snow emergency for the City of Duluth is really to widen out streets so that by 6 p.m. tomorrow when you move your car back, unless we issue another one of these, that you are able to park as close to the curb as you can so that you are not in the drive lane,” says Public Information Officer Kate Van Daele, “and that we, as city crews, can be able to take out all of those ruts that will exist from having to get the snow out from where your car is right now.”
City officials say the way their snow emergency declaration is structure gives people time to move their vehicles. When a declaration is made, it will be done by 4 p.m., since people will have between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. to move it off those street.
“After 9 p.m. we actually go through the city to see if there is any movement, ticketing, towing that needs to happen to try to get everybody clear,” says Mayor Emily Larson, “so that at 2 a.m. it is very clean, very fast, and very efficient for our plow drivers who then start a 16 hour shift.”
The first snow emergency declaration was made on December 28, lasting one day. During that time the city towed 50 vehicles and issued 200 tickets for vehicles that remained on snow emergency routes. Utility Operations Manager Greg Guerrero says they have made adjustments following this declaration to help people find places to park. In addition to using other streets and parking on the correct side for the given week, they have added two lots at the UMD campus to accompany those at Canal Park and near Wade Stadium where people can park for free overnight.
Also, Guerrero says they will be working with the city’s parking enforcement to make sure all vehicles are moved off snow emergency routes. “The more information that we can get out there the better,” says Guerrero. “We’re working a little bit closer this time, not that we weren’t the first time, but even closer now with the parking enforcement to make sure that we can get somebody out there to help us get some of these vehicles off the road.”
City officials are also encouraging people to sign up for Northland Alert so that people can get the latest information regarding this and future snow emergency declarations.
