Tooele City residents can help keep roads cleared of snow from now through March 31 by not parking on streets overnight, according to city code.
“Parking off the streets is a big thing to help us with plowing the roads, especially after we’ve had these big storms that bring up to 15 inches of snow at one time,” said Mayor Patrick Dunlavy.
According to the city’s policies and procedures for snow removal, the goal is to provide the motoring public with the safest driving surface in an efficient and economical manner with available resources.
“It is strongly recommended that citizens prepare in advance to have vehicles parked off of the street regardless of the time of day,” the code reads. “Section 10-3-6 prohibits parking vehicles on any street overnight in anticipation of impending snowstorms.”
Another part of the code specifies the hours of 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. as the prime time for vehicles to be parked off city streets regardless of weather conditions.
“We do cite people who are parked on the streets during major snowstorms. And we do it a lot,” said Tooele City Police Chief Ron Kirby. “If it is a first offense, we basically warn people; they usually comply. But we have issued tickets.”
The code states that it is dangerous and difficult to plow streets clogged with parked vehicles. Some streets, especially cul-de-sacs, may not be plowed if snowplows cannot safely drive through them. The most helpful things residents can do to facilitate snow removal, the code emphasizes, “is to get their cars off the street, and encourage others to do the same.”
It also states residents can help by removing trailers, portable basketball standards, and garbage cans from streets. Snow removal in inclement weather is challenging enough on a “clear” road and these obstacles only increase the difficulty of the crews during their work.
At the onset of a storm, the mayor and/or public works director will make an initial determination of the magnitude of the storm based on forecasting and information available. The severity of storms are ranked 1-4. Snowplows begin work when snow accumulations measure between 0-4 inches.
The city also has all streets broken down into priorities 1-4. All Priority 1 streets and selected Priority 2 streets are anticipated to be cleared throughout a storm. Streets are treated with deicing material as necessary.
A few Priority 1 streets in Tooele City include Coleman Street, Skyline Drive, Vine Street, Utah Avenue, Industrial Road, Lodestone Way, 400 North, Smelter Road, Broadway Avenue and 100 North.
Some Priority 2 streets are anticipated to be cleared throughout the storm. These are generally smaller collector streets, streets adjacent to schools, bus routes and streets with dangerous intersections, hills or curves.
Priority 3 streets are mostly longer residential streets within neighborhoods and Priority 4 streets are shorter neighborhood streets and culdesacs.
Residents should never park in front of a fire hydrant, according to basic uniform traffic code. That violation is also enforced by the police department.
The snow removal policies and procedures are on the city’s website at tooelecity.org. A link to the document is on the home page. A map of city streets and their priorities is provided at the end of the city’s 15-page document on snow removal polices and procedures.