Finch Declares Snow Emergency

From Mayor Bill Finch:

Due to the projected winter storm, Mayor Bill Finch has declared a snow emergency in the City beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, December 13. During a snow emergency, residents must move their cars off posted Snow Emergency streets or be subject to fines and towing. Alternate side of the street parking rules are in effect for all other streets throughout the City in order to allow snow plow drivers’ clear passage. To comply with the Snow Emergency Alternate Side of the Street Parking Rules, residents must move their cars to the ‘even-numbered’ side of the street by 12 midnight tonight and remain on the even-numbered side of the street until the odd-numbered side of the street has been cleared.

During the storm, residents may use the following school parking lots to keep their cars off the street: Cesar Batalla School, 606 Howard Ave.; Geraldine Johnson School, 475 Lexington Ave., Luis Muñoz Marin School, 479 Helen St, Jettie Tisdale School, 275 Hollister Avenue. Residents must move their cars by 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15 to allow adequate time for crews to clear the lots for the opening of school on Monday.

Snow emergency streets are marked with white signs with red lettering. A list of snow streets can be found on the City’s website–www.bridgeportct.gov/snowemergencystreets. No parking is allowed on snow emergency streets. Vehicles left on snow emergency streets after the ban goes into effect will be subject to fines and towing.

“We have some very narrow streets in highly populated areas of the City. Cooperation from all of our residents is necessary in order for our crews to be able to navigate the streets and keep roads clear,” said Mayor Finch. “Property owners can help by shoveling their sidewalks and driveways, and clearing snow around fire hydrants and curb cuts to help improve neighborhood safety. Please do not shovel snow back into the street, and above all, please obey the snow emergency parking rules.”

As of 12 noon Friday, the National Weather Service had issued a Winter Storm Watch for all of Fairfield County and Southern New Haven County, calling for snow to begin Saturday morning and continue through the early-morning hours of Sunday, with a projection of 4-8 inches of accumulation with temperatures in the mid-20’s.

During the storm, residents with non-emergency, weather-related questions or concerns should call the City’s BConnected Call Center at 203.576.1311 or the Emergency Operations Center at 203.579.3829. Residents can use the City’s BConnected request system online at www.bridgeportct.gov/bconnected or on the BConnected mobile application available on iPhone or Android smartphones to report any snow-related concerns.

Snow emergency parking areas are available throughout the City. A full list of parking areas can be found at the following link: www.bridgeportct.gov/snow-emergency-parking-lots.

“I can’t stress how important it is for residents to obey the emergency parking ban. No one wants to have their car towed, and the last thing we want to do is ticket and tow residents’ vehicles,” said Police Chief Joseph Gaudett. “So we need people’s cooperation. The reality is plows won’t be able to clear secondary streets if cars are parked on both sides and it is essential to keep our snow emergency routes clear,” he added.

For the latest updates, resources and information about the snowstorm, residents are asked to check www.bridgeportct.gov/snow, local television and radio news outlets and follow the City of Bridgeport on Twitter and Facebook and Mayor Bill Finch on Twitter and Facebook.

Note from Bridgeport Police Dept.: Vehicles left parked on snow emergency streets after 12 midnight tonight [Friday, Dec. 13] will be subject to tagging and towing. Violating the alternate-side of the street parking rules also will result in fines. A list of snow emergency streets can be found on the City’s website by following this link: www.bridgeportct.gov/snowemergencystreets.

Note from Department of Public Works:

During the snow emergency all City residents should heed alternate side of the street parking rules until the snow emergency has been lifted.

By 12 midnight tonight [Friday, Dec. 13) residents must move their cars to the ‘even-numbered’ side of the street to facilitate efficient snow removal. Once the ‘odd-numbered’ (house numbers ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9) side of the street is clear, residents can move their car to that side of the street so crews can clear the ‘even-numbered’ (house numbers ending in 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8) side of the street. Residents can then heed the alternate side of the street parking rules until the snow emergency has been lifted (park on ‘even-numbered’ side of the street on even-numbered calendar days and ‘odd-numbered’ side of the street on odd-numbered calendar days.

The Department of Public Works reminds all residents and business owners to shovel the sidewalk and walkways, including curb cuts, for pedestrian safety. If sidewalks are not cleared, the City may clean the sidewalk and charge the owner a fee for doing so, as well as impose a $100 per day fine for violating a City ordinance.

Please do not shovel, or use a snow blower or plow to throw snow back into the street from your driveway or sidewalk. Anyone found throwing snow back into the street will be subject to a fine.

Residents and business owners are also asked to clear fire hydrants and the immediate area around it of snow to improve neighborhood safety.

The City’s Transfer Station on Asylum Street will be closed on Sat. Dec. 14.