Winter Returns With Its Discontents: Snow, Parking Ban

Arlington MA

25 February, 2022

3:02 PM

Description

Your Arlington Last Updated: 25 February 2022 Written by Arlington Patch, town website UPDATED Feb. 25: A taste of Spring is all we got this week, and winter has returned with a vengeance. After winter storm warning was issued in Massachusetts, except for the South Shore and Cape Cod, which are under a winter storm watch, from midnight Friday to midnight. Saturday, snow began falling overnight, YourArlington partner Patch reports. In response, Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine announced that a town parking ban was in effect from 1 a.m. Friday, Feb. 25, until further notice. During this time, parking is not allowed on streets and permitted spots. Vehicles parked are subject to ticketing and towing. Parking will be allowed in municipal lots at all times; rates apply after ban. In addition: Libraries will be closed; Town offices will operate remotely, but will not be physically open; Trash/recycling (amended schedule since this was a holiday week); No pickup; Thursday pickup will occur Saturday; Friday pickup will occur Monday; The rest of the town operates like a holiday week next week. The National Weather Service says snow will start falling before dawn Friday, adding one to two inches per hour during the morning commute. The latest forecasts call for eight to 12 inches of snow north of the Mass. Pike, while precipitation will change to the wintry mix south of the highway. But the weather service points to some question marks in its forecast. These include when the snow will change to a wintry mix, whether the state is in for more snow Friday evening and where there is the potential for flash-freezing. Latest forecast from the weather service for Boston: Friday Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 34. East wind 13 to 16 mph becoming north in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent. New snow accumulation of fivw to nine inches possible. Friday Night Snow, mainly before 9. Low around 16. North wind 8 to 13 mph becoming light northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible. General snow, ice reminders During a snow event, please exercise caution when traveling and park off-street to help facilitate snow removal operations. After a storm, residents and businesses are reminded to keep public walkways clear in accordance with Town bylaws. Now is a good time to adopt a fire hydrant to keep it clear of snow in the event of an emergency. Catch basins should be cleared year-round to reduce neighborhood flooding. Important phone numbers Residents are reminded of the following important phone numbers and recommend you print them, or otherwise make them available offline, should you lose power: - Report downed electrical wires: call 911 and Eversource at 1-800-592-2000.- Report a power outage to Eversource at 1-800-592-2000 or at eversource.com.- Report a downed street tree or limb to DPW dispatch at 781-316-3301. Town bylaws regarding snow, ice removal The bylaws require residents and businesses to remove snow and ice from any sidewalks abutting their property following a storm. Residents should remove snow and ice from abutting paved sidewalks within eight hours between sunrise and sunset after a storm, businesses and owners of any residential property utilized for apartment house or multi-unit condominium use that abuts a paved sidewalk have three hours. Please don't forget to cut a path to the street if you live on a corner. It is also prohibited to move snow into the roadway. Failure to comply with these bylaws can result in a fine of $25 to $50 per day. Secure trash, recycling at curb Trash, recycling, and yard waste containers should be on the curb and secured in a manner to prevent them from going into the roadway and impeding snow removal operations. Bylaws require that waste be placed for collection at the curb no earlier than 6:00 p.m. the evening before scheduled collection. Items buried in snow will not be collected and if left out on the curb after your collection day may be subject to a fine. Storm conditions may require some extra planning on when to bring out your items. Please plan accordingly. Be alerted about snow emergencies/parking bans When a snow emergency/parking ban it put into place, the town will send a notification via Arlington Alerts (phone, text, and email), town notices (regular email list), and on its social media channels (Facebook and Twitter). If you are not subscribed to these methods you may do so at arlingtonma.gov/connect. This information will also be posted on arlingtonma.gov. To read more information about the Town's snow operations and what you can do to make Arlington a safe place for all this winter please visit arlingtonma.gov/snow. YourArlington.com has provided news and opinion about Arlington, Mass., since 2006. Publisher Bob Sprague is a former editor at The Boston Globe, Boston Herald and Arlington Advocate. Read more at https://www.yourarlington.com/about.