When they declare a Snow Emergency you are not allowed to park on streets with signs that say “No Parking during Snow Emergency” so check carefully or you will be tagged and towed.

Free Parking during a Snow Emergency

Unless you have a driveway, finding somewhere to put your car can be a real challenge. But did you know that four parking garages provide free parking for a limited time during a declared snow emergency?

• Galleria Mall
  Residents of East Cambridge can park in the Galleria Mall Garage for free during a declared snow emergency.
• First Street Garage
  Enter on Spring Street. Free parking with a Cambridge resident parking permit from the time the snow emergency is in effect until 2 hours after it is lifted.
• Green Street Garage, Central Square
  Free parking with a Cambridge resident parking permit from the time the snow emergency is in effect until 2 hours after it is lifted.
• 52 Oxford Garage
  This Harvard owned and operated garage is free to City residents with resident parking permits on a space-available basis from the time the snow emergency is declared until one hour after it is lifted. Space is limited and on a first-come-first-served basis. Harvard reserves the right to limit admission based on capacity and operations issues.

Sharing street parking with snow mounds

With, or even without, a snow emergency, here are some good street parking tips:

• Park at least 20 feet from the corner so plows can push snow away from crosswalks. This also improves visibility and safety.
• It is illegal to “reserve” cleared parking spaces with cones, gnomes, or other objects.
• Clear snow from fire hydrants and street drains while digging out your car or clearing your sidewalks.
• And when digging out your car, don’t pile the snow on the sidewalk, and when shoveling your sidewalk, pay attention to where you throw that snow too.

The DPW is our Friend

The DPW says, “Please don’t take it personally if we plow snow into your driveway or parked car. This is really unavoidable as we work to keep streets passable during all stages of a storm.”

The DPW chemically treats all major arteries within three hours of when a snowstorm begins. They

• keep main arteries plowed during all stages of a storm
• clear all streets and sidewalks bordering City property once a storm has stopped.

During a storm the DPW will deploy as many as 100 pieces of snow plowing equipment to clear snow. Initially these plows just clear sections of roads to permit safe passage. As the storm abates, these vehicles will revisit streets and continue pushing snow back to curbs or parked cars.

During the summer of 2005, Cambridge re-evaluated the snow emergency parking restrictions. For new snow-emergency areas, new signs with a red background were installed; and on other streets where on-street parking is now permitted, parking restriction signs have been removed. So even if you are pretty sure of the signage in your stomping ground, double check double check for any changes.

Get information and notification easily online

Sign up for email notification when a snow emergency is declared on the City’s E-Line service at www.cambridgema.gov.

Check the Traffic and Parking Department's website for information about snow emergency parking restrictions and alternative off-street parking (http://www.cambridgema.gov/Traffic/Snow.cfm)

To make a street plowing/salting request, please call the Operations Center at (617) 349-4800 or (617) 349-4846 to report the location.