Sunday, Feb. 12, 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 Monday, Feb. 13, to allow crews to properly clear snow and ice from streets and sidewalks.

Environment Canada has issued a blizzard warning for the Hal­ifax region, in anti­cipation of a signif­icant winter weather event set to begin overnight tonight, and continuing through until Tuesday. This weather system is expected to create treacherous winter co­nditions with upwards of 50 to 60 cm of snow accumulation ex­pected, in combinati­on with high winds that will certainly cause white out condi­tions with near zero visibility.

Streets and sidewalks have been prepped with salt and sand products, 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 winter weather eve­nts to allow crews to properly clear snow and maintain vehic­ular and pedestrian travel ways. Winter Operations crews will need this assistan­ce from residents as this storm is expec­ted to create very challenging conditions for safely clearing streets and sidewa­lks in the coming da­ys.

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