Montpelier Winter Parking: Cambridge, MA - Simple ordinance, good system.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Cambridge, MA - Simple ordinance, good system.

Summary

As with Portland and Burlington, the city declares an emergency when a snowstorm is forecast or when it is actually snowing. The Cambridge city regulation requires notification only by news and other media -- the city does not have flashing lights or other visible notification system. The city does maintain a telephone hotline and email network; these seem fairly standard in most cities in practice but are not specified in the ordinance.

Public Outreach

The city has a very good explanation on their website, so I'll just let you click on this link: http://www.cambridgema.gov/Traffic/Snow.cfm

Ordinance

TRAFFIC, PARKING AND TRANSPORTATION REGULATIONS

ARTICLE XVI Sec. 16.5 STANDING OR PARKING DURING SNOW EMERGENCY

(a) If it is the judgment of the Traffic Director that threatening weather conditions may impair the free flow of vehicular traffic or that parked vehicles may impede the clearance of snow, then the Traffic Director may declare a state of emergency under the powers vested in him/her by statutory law.

(b) Whenever such an emergency is declared by the Traffic Director and he/she shall have caused announcement thereof by the use of available news and other media, then no driver shall stand or park any vehicle within the limits of any designated and posted street as described in Schedule 8 or Schedule L incorporated herein and made part hereof available at the Traffic Department .

(c) This regulation shall not apply to commercial vehicles stopped temporarily during the actual loading or unloading of materials.

1 comment:

Becka Roolf said...: My own 2c: The Cambridge ordinance does not require any special flashing lights; notification is just by media, phone hotline and email list. As a grad student (not always clued into the daily media), I never had a problem finding out about snow parking bans, even in the snowiest Boston winter on record (1995-96). I like their system, and the fact that the ordinance explicitly allows the city to call a ban when snow threatens.; September 18, 2007 at 9:52 PM

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About This Site

Currently, Montpelier, VT has a WINTER OVERNIGHT PARKING BAN. No overnight parking from Nov 15 through Apr 1, regardless of weather.

There is interest in changing to a SNOW PARKING BAN system to prohibit parking only when snowing or a strong forecast of snow.

Several other cities have snow-based parking bans, in Vermont and beyond. This website provides information on their processes and ordinances for discussion, and provides a forum for developing a new ordinance for Montpelier.

Please feel free to add your thoughts in the Comments section after each post!

Why switch to a snow parking ban?

A snow parking ban would still get cars off the street when truly needed.
Allowing year round on-street parking allows city lots to be unpaved and available for gardens or green space.
Increased green space reduces stormwater runoff, filters pollutants from stormwater, and decreases the likelihood of flooding due to rainstorms.
Many families have one-lane driveways where one car must be parked behind the other. The overnight parking ban leads to car shuffle games, and extra pollution from starting cold engines.
Some small city lots do not have enough parking spaces, so that people end up parking on their lawns. It's better to park on the lawn a few times a winter (when snowing), than all winter.
Lack of parking spaces may prevent the addition of accessory apartments, which the City encourages.

Becka's philosophy on street parking

In dense city neighborhoods, residents should not have to use their small lots for parking -- gardens and green space are important to the livability of the community. Some on-street parking is also good, because it slows drivers down, particularly in residential neighborhoods.

However, I generally believe that streets should be used for transportation. Bike lanes and bus stops are better uses of our public right of ways than parking. Outside of the downtown area, the city should consider allowing parking only on one side of the street in order to provide space for bicycle lanes. This is particularly true on arterial streets such as Elm Street, Main Street, Barre Street, and State Street -- and may be a good policy for neighborhood streets as well.

In the downtown area, parking on streets should be permitted as it is vital to the downtown businesses. However, downtown employees should not use the metered parking which is provided for the benefit of shoppers and others who are doing short-term business in the city. Ideally, downtown businesses would also use private parking lots for short-term parking, instead of employee parking. I would like to see better enforcement of 2-hour parking limit (regardless of meter feeding) along with promotional and incentive programs to encourage employees to walk, bike, or take transit to work -- or to park outside of downtown.

Becka Roolf is a transportation consultant focusing on walking, bicycling, and other "green" transportation. http://www.goinggreenvt.com

Montpelier Winter Parking