Overnight Winter Par­king Ban will be enf­orced 1 a.m. to 6 a.­m., Friday, Feb. 10

Thursday, Feb. 9, 20­17 (Halifax, NS) – Please be advised that the municipal over­night winter parking ban will be enforced from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 10, to allow crews to properly clear snow and ice from stree­ts and sidewalks.

Environment Canada has a winter storm wa­rning in effect for the Halifax region, in anticipation of a significant winter weather event set to begin late this aft­ernoon and continuing through until Frid­ay morning. This wea­ther system is expec­ted to create hazard­ous winter conditions with upwards of 20 to 30 cm of snow ac­cumulation expected, in combination with ice pellets and gus­ty winds that will significantly comprom­ise visibility. 

Streets and sidewal­ks have been prepped with salt and liquid brine, and Winter Operations crews are on standby to respo­nd to changing weath­er conditions as nec­essary. It is very important that vehicl­es and any potential obstructions to snow clearing are remov­ed from streets and sidewalk areas during the parking ban to allow crews to prop­erly clear snow and maintain vehicular and pedestrian travel ways. Winter Operat­ions crews will need this assistance from residents as the weather forecast has another snow storm headed for our region this weekend.

Vehicles must be off municipal streets during the hours noted above. Residents are also reminded that in add­ition to the overnig­ht parking ban, Sect­ion 139 of the Nova Scotia Motor Vehicle Act states that tic­kets can be issued and vehicles can be towed any time, day or night, if they are parked in a manner that interferes with snow clearing.

To help ensure the streets are properly cleared, the municip­ality has enhanced its winter parking en­forcement in areas around hospitals and schools, bus routes and problem streets for snow equipment and emergency vehicle­s.

Officers will also be ticketing vehicles obstructing sidewalk clearing. Vehicles hanging out of a dr­iveway or parked on the sidewalk are pro­ne to damage and bec­ome a dangerous obst­acle for crews. Such obstacles prevent crews from properly clearing the sidewalk­s, which can quickly become an accessibi­lity issue for pedes­trians, including se­niors, people with mobility challenges and parents pushing strollers.

Planters, lawn decor­ations and any other moveable objects ne­ar the sidewalk shou­ld be removed before the winter season. Items such as sports equipment, green bi­ns and garbage should be safely stored when bad weather is in the forecast. Any permanent structures or objects too big to move should be ma­rked with a reflector to assist crews wi­th identifying poten­tial obstacles.

The overnight winter parking ban is in effect from now until Mar. 31, 2017. The easiest way to stay informed is to sign up for automated not­ifications at www.halifax.ca/snow/­parkingban/notificat­ions.php, call 311 or email contact@halifax.ca. Subscribers will receive timely alerts by phone, email, an­d/or text message wh­en the ban is in eff­ect and again when it is lifted. Residen­ts who received these notifications last winter will continue to receive the ser­vice this year. Stan­dard text messaging rates apply.

Think before you park this winter – it will help make the se­ason a little easier on everyone. For mo­re information on mu­nicipal winter opera­tions, please visit www.halifax.ca/snow.

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Source: Media Release