MINNEAPOLIS — With big cities including Minneapolis and St. Paul declaring snow emergencies, it's important to know what to do with your car so you don't have the very expensive experience of being towed.
In Minneapolis:
Day one:
By 9 p.m. on the first day of a snow emergency, you CANNOT be parked on either side of a street with a red sign that says "Snow Emergency Route." You CAN park on either side of the streets that do not have these signs (non-snow emergency routes). Pro tip: Choose the odd side if you plan on sleeping in, because you'll have to move off the even side by 8 a.m. the next day.
Day two:
On day two, starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 8 p.m., you CANNOT be parked on the EVEN side of non-snow emergency routes. Those are the streets running perpendicular to the snow emergency route. Also, don't park on either side of parkways. You CAN park on the actual snow emergency route now, since it's been cleared, or you can move to the ODD side of non-snow emergency routes.
Day three:
Day three, starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 8 p.m., you CANNOT be parked on the ODD side of non-snow emergency routes. You CAN be parked on the snow emergency route, or you can park on the EVEN side of non-snow emergency routes.
Here are the rules for Minneapolis snow emergencies. You can look up your street here. Sign up for email, text or phone call alerts for Minneapolis snow emergencies here.
In St. Paul:
Day one:
By 9 p.m. on day one, you CANNOT be parked on any night plow route. These streets have signs that say either "NIGHT PLOW ROUTE" or "NIGHT PLOW ROUTE-THIS SIDE OF STREET." Generally these are main streets and some north-south residential streets. This rule is in effect until 7 a.m. the next morning.
Day two:
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on day two, you CANNOT be parked on any day plow routes. Any street that is not marked as a night plow route is considered a day plow route. Generally these are east-west residential streets, and some north-south residential streets. This rule lasts until 5 p.m.
Clean up (96 hours from the time the snow emergency is declared):
From the time the snow emergency is declared, it lasts 96 hours. So after the initial night plows and day plows go through, crews are cleaning up and pushing back snow where cars have moved. Do not park in any area that has not been plowed the full width of the street, or you could be towed.
Find the St. Paul snow emergency rules here, and look at a map of the routes here. And get the St. Paul Winter Snow Parking App so you can be notified about snow emergencies directly.
For other cities, go to your city's website and look up those specific snow emergency rules.
