News - 1000 miles of streets to plow - With more than 1,000 miles of streets to plow, Minneapolis needs residents’ help

City offer tools to help people avoid a ticket and tow

           When the snow flies, City Public Works crews have enormous jobs to do, with hundreds of miles of streets that need to be cleared curb-to-curb. When there is a significant snowfall, Minneapolis declares a Snow Emergency which calls on residents to follow the parking rules so plows can do the best job possible clearing snow from city streets.

    Unshoveled sidewalks and unmoved cars during snow emergencies present a real barrier for many in our community, especially seniors, the disabled, and crews trying to clear streets. By working together to shovel sidewalks and taking advantage of the snow emergency notification systems, winter can be a season of fun and not a season of headaches.

    Contrary to what many people assume, Snow Emergencies are not moneymakers for the City. Towing and impounding vehicles is expensive, so it's in everyone's interest to help people follow the parking rules and avoid a ticket and tow. That's why Minneapolis offers residents, workers, and visitors a number of tools to help them learn when Snow Emergencies are declared, and what to do when they are.

Minneapolis snow season facts and figures

• It's a big job! During a Snow Emergency, Minneapolis crews plow 1,100 miles of streets curb-to-curb, along with clearing 400 miles of alleys. Altogether, plows clear 3,200 lane miles, enough to plow a lane from Minneapolis to Anchorage, Alaska.
• Snow Emergency mailer. At the beginning of each snow season, Minneapolis mails a Snow Emergency flier to all 175,000 households in the city. It explains the parking rules for each day of a Snow Emergency, and how to get more information.
• Snow website. The City's snow webpage www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/snow, contains all the Snow Emergency parking rules and other details about the City's efforts to keep roads clear and safe during the winter. The site also has detailed Snow Emergency information in Hmong, Spanish, Somali, Oromo, Vietnamese and Laotian.
• Interactive maps. The City's website has interactive neighborhood maps that show where you can and can't park each day of a Snow Emergency. Just enter your address or select a neighborhood to get a detailed map. To access the maps, just go to www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/snow and click on "street lookup."
• Automated phone calls. The day a Snow Emergency is declared, Minneapolis makes about 100,000 automated phone calls to residents, alerting them that a Snow Emergency has been declared. To add your cell phone to the call list, just visit www­.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/snow. Non-English-speaking people can sign up to get their phone calls in Spanish, Somali, or Hmong by visiting www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/snow and looking for the sign-up page under their respective language pages.
• Snow hotline. The City's 24-hour snow hotline, 612-348-SNOW, gives callers the latest updates. This year, for the first time, Snow Emergency information is available in a number of languages by calling just one number. Callers to the hotline can hear information in English, Spanish, Somali, or Hmong. Callers who need more info can just dial 311 for assistance.
• Email and text message alerts. Anyone can get email or text messages that notify residents of a Snow Emergency. Go to www.ci.minneapolis. mn.us/snow to sign up.
• Tickets and tows. Residents do a good job of following the parking rules (95 percent of cars are parked according to Snow Emergency rules), but during a Snow Emergency, as many as 1,500 vehicles or more can be towed to the Impound Lot.