Thomas Breen photo
Tuesday morning on Lawrence St.
Roughly five inches of snow fell on New Haven Monday night and Tuesday morning, and 130 cars were ticketed thanks to the now-lifted overnight parking ban.
That’s the latest with New Haven’s late-winter snowstorm Monday night and Tuesday morning.
At around 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, city Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana said “we had about five inches, maybe a little less” with “maybe another inch” of snow still to come.
Thomas Breen photo
City Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana on Monday: "The crews did a great job."
“The crews did a great job,” he said about the city’s 40-plus plows that worked overnight, alongside still more contractor-hired vehicles. “It was only a few accidents, no power outages. People listened. People stayed in. People are driving slowly.”
City spokesperson Lenny Speiller confirmed that the parking ban — which was in effect downtown and on snow emergency routes from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. — has now been lifted.
City transportation director Sandeep Aysola said that a total of 130 cars were ticketed: 85 by Transportation, Traffic & Parking (TT&P) crew members and 45 by the police department. He said that TT&P wound up towing 77 cars, but it’s “safe to assume” that the majority of the cars that received police-issued tickets were also towed.
Aysola also confirmed that the parking ban has now been lifted. “We’re in the process of shutting the blue lights off. Some need to be done manually.”
As of 7:30 a.m., Fontana added, there are “no road closures.”
A winter-storm email alert sent out by Mayor Justin Elicker Monday night said that all New Haven Public Schools will be closed on Tuesday.
A City of New Haven Winter Storm Warning email alert also sent out on Monday night said the city’s warming centers will remain open through 10 a.m. Tuesday. Click here for more information about Yale parking lots open to the public.
“Please stay off the roads if you can, please shovel your sidewalks so there is a path at least 3 feet wide to ensure wheelchair access, and please check on your family, friends, and neighborhoods who might need a helping hand,” that city winter-storm message concluded. “Finally, as always, please call 911 for any life-threatening emergencies.”
See below for an earlier version of this article.
6 Inches Of Snow Predicted; Parking Ban Starts At 11
Mayor Elicker: "We're expecting wet snow."
Forty city plows will be on the roads after dark on Monday — and an overnight parking ban will take effect — as the Elicker Administration prepares for a coming snowstorm that could drop up to six inches.
Mayor Justin Elicker, city Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana, and city Parks & Public Works Director Jeff Pescosolido detailed those plans Monday afternoon during a press conference held in the Emergency Operations Center in the basement of 200 Orange St.
With a half-dozen city department heads standing by his side, Elicker described the likely storm ahead — and the ways that city workers will be called into action tonight to help mitigate the winter-weather impacts.
He said that up to six inches of snow could fall on New Haven, starting at around 6 to 8 p.m. tonight. “Because the temperatures are going to be close to freezing, we’re expecting wet snow,” he said.
He and Pescosolido said that 40 city vehicles will be out plowing starting at 8 p.m. Monday. The city will also be calling in additional contractor snow-plow workers to help out. The city’s warming centers, meanwhile, will be open from 7 p.m. through 10 a.m., longer than their typical winter hours that end at 7 a.m. every day.
Elicker also said that the city will be putting in place a parking ban from 11 p.m. Monday to 8 a.m. Tuesday. That parking ban will apply to all downtown streets bounded by Grove, South Frontage, State, and Howe. It will also apply to all snow emergency routes, which lead to the hospital.
During the parking ban, which prohibits cars from parking on either side of the street in those select areas, drivers can park their cars instead in the publicly owned Temple, Crown, State Street, and Granite Square parking garages overnight for $3. They can also park in public school parking lots and in 10 different Yale lots that will be open to the public.
Trash and recycling pickup will proceed as usual, the mayor added.
City Parks & Public Works Director Jeff Pescosolido.
“Stay off the roads if you can,” he said. Shovel your sidewalks wide enough for a person in a wheelchair to get through. And sign up for the city’s emergency alert notification system for more updates.
“Please, drive slow,” Fontana implored the public. “This snow is going to be heavy. This snow is going to be wet. … Please, pay close attention” to not tailing drivers if you are on the road, and to not parking “where you can’t park.”
One of the many live video camera feeds of city intersections, visible in the Emergency Operations Center.
According to an email blast sent out by Westville Alder Adam Marchand on Monday afternoon, the following Yale lots are open for free for New Haven residents to park at from Monday at 5 p.m. through Tuesday at 9 p.m.:
- Amistad Garage — 10 Amistad Street
- Science Park Garage — enter from Argyle St. Park on floors 3, 4 or 5. Enter and exit via the same lane.
- 344 Winchester Lot
- Lot 11 — 409 Prospect Street at the Divinity School
- Lot 16 — 260 Whitney Avenue, entrance at Whitney and Humphrey Streets
- Lot 22 — 260 Whitney Avenue, entrance at Whitney and Humphrey Streets
- Lot 41 — 221 Whitney Avenue
- Lot 47 — corner of Washington and Howard Avenues, access from Washington Ave.
- Lot 78 — 74 Ashmun St. (corner of Ashmun & York Square Place, entrance on Ashmun)
- Lot 81 — 297 Crown Street (corner of Crown and High Streets)
- Lot 199 — 199 Whitney Avenue
The city trying to take money away from people with these parking bans. Come Wednesday it will be 50 degrees and everything would have melted away anyhow. Waste of money and effort.