The City of Muscatine has declared a Snow Emergency starting at 8 a.m. Thursday, February 16 through 8 a.m. Friday, February 17. Muscatine is under a Winter Weather Advisory and is expected to receive three to five inches of snow starting Wednesday night.
“Our trucks are out right now spraying areas of our streets with brine (a salt-water mixture that helps melt snow),” Brian Stineman, Public Works Director, said. “The snow plows will be out early Thursday morning and will work as long as needed to move snow off the streets.”
This is the first time that a Snow Emergency has been declared under the revised Snow Emergency Ordinance.
Muscatine’s Snow Emergency Ordinance limits on-street parking during a declared Snow Emergency to allow plows to access and clear streets during extreme winter storms.
According to the revised code, when weather conditions warrant the declaration of a snow emergency, motor traffic will be expedited and parking on City of Muscatine streets will be prohibited or restricted for snow plowing and other purposes.
During a declared snow emergency, no person shall park, or allow to remain parked, any vehicle on any portion of a Snow Emergency route. Here is a MAP of the Snow Emergency routes. Signage marking the designated Snow Emergency routes were installed by the City of Muscatine late last year.
Once a Snow Emergency ends there is still the possibility of parking restrictions as Department of Public Works crews push back the snow to the curb.
The Snow Push Back policy would be implemented, if needed, once snow removal operations are complete to the appropriate levels of service on all Class I, Class II, and Class III roadways. See SNOW AND ICE CONTROL POLICY for the classifications of different roadways.
Residents will be provided 24-hour notice prior to the implementation of the Snow Push Back policy’s odd-even parking plan. See SNOW PUSH BACK POLICY for more information on parking restrictions.
