A parking ban in West Hartford has been issued for Saturday, Dec. 9, beginning at 7 a.m.

By Ronni Newton

Meteorological winter begins on Dec. 1, and as the second weekend of December gets underway, preparations are underway for West Hartford’s first snowfall of the season.

The Department of Public Works announced Friday morning that a parking ban will go into effect as of 7 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9 and will be in effect through 9 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 10.

During a parking ban, on-street parking is prohibited so that plows can clear the snow from curb to curb.

Director John Phillips said that although the ban may not be a popular move in the middle of the busy holiday season, “On the logistics side, we need one for the greater good, for our objective of safely clearing snow and ice from the streets, curb to curb.”

Practically speaking, Phillips said his crews will try their best to work around cars that defy the ban, but those who park in the streets create the biggest problem for crews when they are doing the final cleanup.

“This storm will be sensitive with respect to the cleanup because there is the potential for another storm next week. It’s not just going to melt,” said Phillips. “When we plow around parked cars, that snow stays there.”

Failure to clear streets to full width early in the season creates future problems for plow trucks, as well as emergency vehicles.

“Use your common sense,” Phillips said. “Public Works tries to be practical in application of the ban.” If it’s not snowing in the morning, crews are not going to have car towed for being parked otherwise in a legal on-street space, he said. However, crews will be pre-treating roadways first thing in the morning and there is a chance that the material will splatter on a car.

According to the Town of West Hartford, off-street municipal lots (like schools) are available for use through 9 a.m. Sunday for those who are impacted by the parking ban. Residents are asked to park cars next to each other – not leaving parking spaces in between – to make the plowing more efficient.

Fees will apply for use of all municipal parking garages and pay-to-park surface lots.

The online overnight parking omit system will be disabled until the parking ban ends.

“We’re ready,” Phillips said. “It didn’t catch us by surprise.”

Meteorologists were going back and forth all week trying to forecast this storm, and Phillips said that crews did as much as they could in advance to transition from road maintenance to snow removal mode and are busy Friday finishing that transition.

Phillips said that most of the forecasts are in consistent, with about 5 inches of light, fluffy snow expected to fall in West Hartford on Saturday. He thinks that snow will begin reaching the ground late in the morning as the front backs into the area from the southeast, with the heaviest snow expected in early afternoon.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the area, beginning at 4 a.m. Saturday.

West Hartford Public Schools has canceled athletic activities for Saturday due to the impending storm, and ACT testing at Hall High School on Saturday, Dec. 9 has been canceled and will be rescheduled for a future date according to the website.

West Hartford property owners are responsible for removing snow and ice from the sidewalk along their property line within 12 hours after the storm or sunrise, whichever is later, according to town ordinance. Sidewalks must be kept clear of snow and ice, and heavily used sidewalks near schools and public buildings, and the commercial areas are particularly important. To report a snow clearing violation, please call the West Hartford Police Department at (860) 523-5203.

The town also asks residents to please keep the area around hydrants clear for the West Hartford Fire Department.

For more information about West Hartford’s snow and ice removal policy, click here.

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