I have driven in Maryland many times and most major roads are marked as Snow Emergency Routes. What does that designation entail? I would assume there is priority clearance of those roads and some kind of penalty for blocking them w abandoned cars
I was never certain but my brother lives in Silver Spring and last winter he and my 13 y/o nephew drove his 4wd Toyota Tundra around and helped people move their stranded cars. My nephew made some money from thankful motorist because they said they avoided a $250 ticket. Is this true? and what else is involved in a Snow Emergency Route.
Does any other state mark them like Maryland
[Moving to General Highway Talk. -S.]
I once parked right under a Snow Emergency Route sign in Boston. 16 inches fell overnight. They did not tow my car: they simply bracketed it with two snowbanks even larger than it. The middle of three snowbanks had an antenna sticking out, and that was the only way to tell where I had parked. Took me three weeks to be able to access my car.
no ticket on the windshield.
The city of Wilmington in Delaware marks them. When a snow emergency is declared, those routes are supposed to be free of parked cars. I do not know if tickets are issued, but I am thinking it is rare considering the somewhat lack of parking in the city on regular days.
Some counties in Northern Virginia have marked snow emergency routes...
Mapmikey
I haven't seen it firsthand, but apparently the City of New York will tow and impound cars left parked on snow routes when they are put into effect.
Here is the first year with Snow Emergency route in Maryland, 1962
(https://files.me.com/parndt/5cyda3)
Someone I know in St. Paul, MN frequently complains about the Twin Cities' Snow Emergency Routes. From his descriptions, it is illegal to park on such a road (cars get towed and impounded, or at least ticketed), but frequently the city forgives the tickets. Apparently the snow is so bad that it doesn't make much of a difference having these routes clear of parked cars.
We, for obvious reasons, do not have them this far south.
in Philadelphia and many PA towns, when they declare a snow emergency, there is no parking allowed on snow emergency routes. in most cases a snow emergency is called when the forecast looks bad enough and starts an hour or so before the main snow starts to fall. The city will tow and impound cars parked on snow emergency routes. If you've ever seen the show Parking Wars, you know how expensive, and how much of a pain, it is to get your car out of impound.
Snow Emergency routes are usually main arterial streets, this is so plows can plow curb to curb and leaves these streets passable for ambulances, fire trucks, etc.
I told Mike Pruett on Sunday that MDSHA would save money by saying which routes AREN'T snow emergency routes. I had to laugh back in August when I was clinching Scenic US 40, and as soon as I exited I-68 there is a "SNOW EMERGENCY ROUTE" sign on that windy, narrow, mountainous two-lane route.
Post Merge: December 31, 2010, 07:24:23 AM
Quote from: jemacedo9 on December 27, 2010, 08:28:54 PMin Philadelphia and many PA towns, when they declare a snow emergency, there is no parking allowed on snow emergency routes.
On the other side of the state, there were no Snow Emergency Routes in Pittsburgh until this past February winter storm. Now there is a set list of which streets will be plowed first and now designated by signage indicating they are a SER.
Quote from: Mapmikey on December 27, 2010, 04:03:44 PM
Some counties in Northern Virginia have marked snow emergency routes...
Mapmikey
Richmond also has them (well, one - Franklin Street between US 1/301 and 9th St is marked as one), but they're a recent addition and I assure you they're never enforced.
Quote from: PAHighways on December 27, 2010, 09:43:25 PM
On the other side of the state, there were no Snow Emergency Routes in Pittsburgh until this past February winter storm. Now there is a set list of which streets will be plowed first and now designated by signage indicating they are a SER.
Quite the coincidence....
When I checked my mail today, in addition to the usual BS circulars & ads, I got my nice shiny City of Pittsburgh brochure concerning "snow emergencies". I'm glad that my street isn't an emergency route (though I have easy access to 2 of them), because it does mention that if a snow emergency is declared you can't park on your street, and I have no off-street parking available.
It's actually a really nice looking publication, which unfolds and has a pretty big map on the one side. For a city in it's financial position, perhaps too nice. I'm kinda curious as to how much $$$ the city spent on it.
Also, after last February, I'm hoping to not see a "winter emergency" for a few years again.
Quote from: PAHighways on December 27, 2010, 09:35:38 PM
I told Mike Pruett on Sunday that MDSHA would save money by saying which routes AREN'T snow emergency routes. I had to laugh back in August when I was clinching Scenic US 40, and as soon as I exited I-68 there is a "SNOW EMERGENCY ROUTE" sign on that windy, narrow, mountainous two-lane route.
Hahaha...that is so true! The signs are completely redundant, since the only qualification for those "Snow Emergency Route" signs seems to be its status as a state or US highway. I can't think of a single example of one of those signs on a county route, although I can think of county routes that should be snow emergency routes (and probably are on the books somewhere) because of their size and traffic volume.
Quote from: SyntheticDreamer on December 28, 2010, 08:18:17 AM
Richmond also has them (well, one - Franklin Street between US 1/301 and 9th St is marked as one), but they're a recent addition and I assure you they're never enforced.
I've been told that Danville, VA has them too. Interesting seeing how far south that city is, but I'm sure they have come in handy the past two winters.
--posting from snowy central North Carolina
Quote from: Laura Bianca on December 29, 2010, 01:28:07 AM
Quote from: PAHighways on December 27, 2010, 09:35:38 PM
I told Mike Pruett on Sunday that MDSHA would save money by saying which routes AREN'T snow emergency routes. I had to laugh back in August when I was clinching Scenic US 40, and as soon as I exited I-68 there is a "SNOW EMERGENCY ROUTE" sign on that windy, narrow, mountainous two-lane route.
Hahaha...that is so true! The signs are completely redundant, since the only qualification for those "Snow Emergency Route" signs seems to be its status as a state or US highway. I can't think of a single example of one of those signs on a county route, although I can think of county routes that should be snow emergency routes (and probably are on the books somewhere) because of their size and traffic volume.
There are some county-route snow emergency routes that I know of in Allegany County. One example is Christie Road, east of Cumberland, where both the MD 144 portion as well as the county-road portion are marked with snow emergency route signs.
Quote from: Mr_Northside on December 28, 2010, 04:25:48 PMWhen I checked my mail today, in addition to the usual BS circulars & ads, I got my nice shiny City of Pittsburgh brochure concerning "snow emergencies".
They should put something on their website as the only thing I find when trying to search are the reports from last February's storm and the rules for clearing sidewalks.
Quote from: PAHighways on December 27, 2010, 09:35:38 PM
I told Mike Pruett on Sunday that MDSHA would save money by saying which routes AREN'T snow emergency routes. I had to laugh back in August when I was clinching Scenic US 40, and as soon as I exited I-68 there is a "SNOW EMERGENCY ROUTE" sign on that windy, narrow, mountainous two-lane route.
Western MD is the one place I
can see them having Snow Emergency signage, but still they're out of place in summer, or anytime snow isn't on the ground. Especially near the bay or beach they seem completely out of place, like seeing a Hurricane Evacuation sign out there on Scenic 40. If the state is looking to save money, phasing out these signs on state routes would be a starting point. The laws concerning Snow Emergency are announced each time anyway, especially if it goes beyond Phase 1. Snow Emergency Plans are in effect maybe 5-10% of the year, maybe a little more out in the mountains.
Nothing in the MD law about specific routes, besides they "shall be designated", but from what I understand,
all numbered routes in Maryland are Snow Emergency Routes by default, so it is redundant. Plus the local roads/streets designated by the counties, and you have essentially every road of importance. A rule of thumb: if (a) someone has bothered to paint center/lane lines on the street, or (b) it's a part of a regular bus line, then it probably is a Snow Emergency Route.
What's pictured is the standalone red-white sign, mostly seen today on unnumbered roads in the counties or streets in Baltimore City. On the state routes they've been replaced with the white SER sign below the route shield. More new shield assemblies have been appearing without an SER sign at all.
In Kansas City, KS they switch the word order up and call them Emergency Snow Routes. They try to stick the signs on whatever they can, really, like under other signs, on telephone poles, etc. but every once in a while you'll see a stand-alone one. Oklahoma City has a few of them too with a drawing of a snowflake. I doubt they're of much use, though, because OKC typically only gets snow once or so per year and the city basically goes to Status: General Apeshit whenever it happens.
In neither case am I aware with any legal requirements or regulations attached to the routes.
Do any of the mountainous routes in California have such signage? I know some of the Sierra crossing routes, like CA-89, CA-108 and CA-120 sometimes get so much snow the entire route has to be closed.
Quote from: Duke87 on December 27, 2010, 05:39:19 PM
I haven't seen it firsthand, but apparently the City of New York will tow and impound cars left parked on snow routes when they are put into effect.
The City of Chicago does likewise on streets marked as "Snow Routes" when there is a snowfall of greater than 2 inches. Most of these are main streets such as 55th Street, Western Ave, etc.
Columbus OH has these as well. They are pretty much on the main arterials, and a no stopping order is in place whenever there is any level of snow emergency (we have three levels - OMG it's snowing, holy crap it's sticking, and Jesus Christ do a bread run mama)
There are some areas around Lake Tahoe where I believe I've seen such signage for emergency snow routes. These weren't on any major highways, though, and I can't remember if they were in Nevada or California.
Here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, most cities have an ordinance where parking overnight on any city street is illegal between November and April. Down in the Grand Rapids area, it's even-odd parking in the winter. On even days, park on the even side of the street. Switch sides for the odd days.
Cincinnati doesn't call particular streets "Snow Routes" or anything like that. They just put up an additional sign saying "No Parking During Snow Emergency."
http://maps.google.com/maps?gl=us&om=0&ie=UTF8&ll=39.134733,-84.458181&spn=0.003021,0.004882&z=18&layer=c&cbll=39.134662,-84.458231&panoid=nH610fMnjkUbpehpL6iS_A&cbp=12,53.38,,1,3.96
In Minnesota, since each city funds their own snow removal, there are way too many different rules for snow emergencies. Some suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul might have a snow emergency, others might not. The media is really helpful for letting people know when they're in effect, at least. Other towns I've been in have winter parking rules where on certain days you park on the odd side of the street and other days you park on the even side.
Quote from: MDRoads on December 29, 2010, 07:47:52 PM
but from what I understand, all numbered routes in Maryland are Snow Emergency Routes by default, so it is redundant.
That's true only if you know that's the law in Maryland.
Quote from: mightyace on January 04, 2011, 08:32:05 PM
Quote from: MDRoads on December 29, 2010, 07:47:52 PM
but from what I understand, all numbered routes in Maryland are Snow Emergency Routes by default, so it is redundant.
That's true only if you know that's the law in Maryland.
That's how it's usually announced when explaining it... all numbered roads, and roads marked with the SER signage, are subject to the restrictions.