After facing criticism for its January snow response, the city is outlining its treatment plans for the snow expected Wednesday.
A wintry mix of sleet, snow and freezing rain is headed for the St. Louis region, with 5 On Your Side Weather Impact meteorologists predicting up to 3 inches of snow for the St. Louis metro.
Ahead of the storm, the City of St. Louis shared its response plan for the upcoming snow Sunday. The announcement came after the city was criticized for its slow response to the winter storm that struck the area on Jan. 6, leaving sidewalks, alleys and side streets treacherously packed with snow and ice for more than a week.
-Don’t park on snow routes, as plows will push snow to the side of the road and trap vehicles. Those parked on the snow route more than 12 inches from the curb will be towed.
-Residents and businesses are responsible for shoveling their sidewalks.
-Those on hill routes were asked to park on the odd-numbered side of the street, which is based on house numbers, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.
Residents may have seen city crews pretreating roads on Monday and Tuesday, City of St. Louis spokesperson Conner Kerrigan said, and 50 on-call drivers and other city staff will be plowing and salting as needed in 12-hour shifts on Wednesday.
“We’ve learned a couple lessons from last storm, and we admit that there were some misses on last time that we need to correct,” Kerrigan said. “So this time, we’re trying to get the information out there as soon as possible and work with residents to make sure that our response is as effective as possible.”
Residential streets will not be plowed. Kerrigan said the city tried plowing residential streets in 2014, but because city plow trucks are so wide, they ended up knocking car mirrors and burying many cars. Unlike other cities, St. Louis does not have a city ordinance mandating people park on one side of the street. He said Mayor Tishaura Jones is working with the Board of Aldermen to update some ordinances, and limited parking on snow routes is something they’re considering.
Three smaller snow plows that would be able to treat residential streets are on the way and should be ready for next winter, Kerrigan said.
The city asked residents to take the following actions to ensure snow treatment goes as smoothly as possible:
- Don’t park on snow routes, as plows will push snow to the side of the road and trap vehicles. Those parked on the snow route more than 12 inches from the curb will be towed.
- Residents and businesses are responsible for shoveling their sidewalks.
- Those on hill routes were asked to park on the odd-numbered side of the street, which is based on house numbers, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.
The city said it did not expect trash collection to be impacted by the storm but will continue to monitor the weather to determine if that will change.
This article originally appeared here.
How can you say the side streets will not be plowed before you even know how big of a storm we may or may not have. Super disappointing again that my city skirts responsibility for its citizens. Over and over again we all get short changed and now you are doing it before you even knew how big of a snow storm it was going to be. Super disappointed yet again by the leadership or lack there of!