St. Paul's winter parking trial gains traction in second year
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
For the second straight year, St. Paul is piloting new winter parking rules in two neighborhoods. Photo: Kyle Stokes/Axios
St. Paul officials learned enough from last winter's experiment with one-sided street parking to know they like it — even if the season wasn't very snowy.
Why it matters: St. Paul has launched its second winter of testing a snow-plowing strategy that could all but eliminate the need for costly and disruptive snow emergencies.
How it works: The strategy hinges on drivers being willing to move their cars to the opposite side of the street every week, even when it doesn't snow.
- Starting this week, trial parking rules began in two new areas — roughly 20 square blocks in the Midway and Cathedral Hill neighborhoods.
Zoom in: This week, drivers can legally park on the even side of the street. On Sunday, they'll have a few hours to move their cars to the odd side. The pattern continues through early April.
- The idea: If it snows, the city will send plows to clear two-thirds of the pavement on these streets ASAP — without the need to declare a snow emergency and wait hours for people to move their cars.
Catch up quick: Though the Twin Cities saw roughly half its average seasonal snowfall last year, St. Paul Public Works called two snow emergencies while piloting these same rules in two different neighborhoods: Payne-Phalen and Highland Park.
What they learned: Public Works spokesperson Lisa Hiebert told Axios that a decrease in tickets throughout the trial showed "residents actually caught on pretty quick." (The city issued about 500 violations in the pilot areas, but issued only 54 tickets to repeat violators.)
- Overall, streets in the pilot areas were clearer — without the deep tire-track ruts of compounded snow and ice that are "one of the biggest frustrations," added department director Sean Kershaw.
- Fewer ruts mean the city might not have as much need for salt on residential streets if the model were spread citywide, Kershaw added.
The intrigue: Kershaw said five straight days of "nuisance snowfalls" between Dec. 28 and New Year's Day pointed to the need for a new approach to snow removal: None of those snowfalls on its own merited calling a snow emergency — but the effects literally piled up on city streets.
- "Everybody wants things to be better, but nobody wants them different," Kershaw said. "To make snow plowing better, we may need to make it different."
What we're watching: Whether the idea continues to gain traction under new St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her. Kershaw said he hasn't had a chance to discuss the program with her yet.