Snow Emergency

Public Works continues cleaning up and widening residential side streets across Saint Paul

UPDATE 2/3/2023

Since January 23, at the conclusion of Saint Paul’s fifth snow emergency of the season, Public Works’ street maintenance staff have been focused on various work to keep Saint Paul streets safe and passable:

1. At least two crews are pothole patching on arterial (main) streets each day.
2. Three crews are doing snow removal efforts on some of the narrowest residential streets throughout the City using heavy equipment, including two graders, to break up the ice pack and widen the streets where possible. Working closely with the Saint Paul Fire Department and Saint Paul Public Schools, Public Works has widened about 1/3 of the nearly 100 identified street segments for emergency vehicles and school buses.
3. Several crews are doing additional plowing, salting, and other clean up work on all streets and intersections throughout the City, as well as shoveling public sidewalks and steps.
4. Crews are collecting illegally dumped items, emptying public trash containers, and responding to non-snow related street issues.
5. Overnight crews are doing snow removal from downtown Saint Paul.

This weekend, as temperatures climb above the single digits, Public Works will be salting some residential streets and intersections where critically needed. Residents may experience some expansion of the snow and slush on the side streets.

To help our snow operations efforts, please do not park in areas posted “no parking.” Do not place garbage or recycling carts in the street at any time.

To report potholes, please email the street location (with cross streets or addresses) at potholes@ci.stpaul.mn.us

City of Saint Paul is NOT declaring a one-sided parking ban at this time

January 25, 2023

The City of Saint Paul does not plan to declare a one-sided parking ban at this time. Our streets are snow packed and narrowing; however, Saint Paul Public Works continues to closely monitor them and work to keep our arterial streets clear in the drive lanes and widen our residential streets to keep them safe and passible.

“We do not need to do a citywide one-sided parking ban – yet,” cautioned Sean Kershaw, Saint Paul Public Works Director. “We continue to work on the residential streets to keep them safe and passible for our emergency vehicles and school buses. The recent snow emergency declaration gave us some needed width on our streets in many areas, but also exposed the ice pack which has other challenges for all types of mobility on our streets.”

The City declared its 5th snow emergency in 8 weeks on January 19, 2023. During this citywide snow emergency, Public Works crews were able to regain some needed width on many residential streets. The majority of Saint Paul’s arterial (main) streets have drive lanes cleared to the pavement. There is some narrowing in the parking and bike lanes, and Public Works will continue to clear them where possible.

Saint Paul Public Works is working closely with Saint Paul Public Schools, Saint Paul Fire Department, and Saint Paul Police Department to prioritize residential street work in the areas causing the most challenges for safety and accessibility, including school bus loading zones. Public Works will focus snow removal efforts on some of the narrowest streets throughout the city using heavy equipment, including two graders, to break up the ice pack and widen the streets where possible.

“We realize that on-street parking is a necessity for tens of thousands of Saint Paul residents,” said Kershaw. “A one-sided parking ban would make tough parking situations even harder for everyone, but we advise people to start exploring any alternative parking options in your neighborhood now.”

If the City receives additional snow accumulation or is unable to widen residential streets to keep them safe and passible for emergency vehicles, Public Works may post no parking signs on one side of the street in certain areas, and/or declare a citywide one-sided parking ban in the future.

To report concerns about street conditions, please call and leave a detailed message at 651-266-9700, select option 2. Sign up for snow emergency or operations alerts, including texts and emails below on this webpage.

There is currently no Snow Emergency in effect.

When a Snow Emergency is declared, residents are asked to follow specific parking guidelines to allow for efficient snow removal operations. Vehicles in violation of parking restrictions will be ticketed and towed.

Shovel your sidewalk, do not put carts on the street, and clear hydrants and storm drains

• Shovel your sidewalk. Saint Paul City Ordinance requires snow and ice to be removed from sidewalks within 24 hours. Corner property owners must shovel curbs, walkways and crosswalks to the street.
• Do not push snow out into the streets.
• Do not place recycling and garbage carts in the street. Carts should be kept in the boulevard or at the end of the driveway.
• If you are able, please shovel hydrants out and clear snow and ice off storm drains to prevent street flooding.