Snow
and Ice Removal:
We're All in this Together |
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| Clearing sidewalk snow
and ice is the neighborly
thing to do... |
| We all have a shared responsibility
for keeping our community safe and accessible
during winter weather. For you, your neighbors,
people with strollers or using wheelchairs,
and the many people in Cambridge who walk,
please do your part. |
| |
| ... and it’s
the law. |
Cambridge Ordinance requires
that all property owners:
- Remove snow from all sidewalks next
to their property or business within 12
hours after snow stops falling in the
daytime, and before 1 p.m. when the snow
has fallen during the night.
- Make the path wide enough for someone
using wheelchair, walker or stroller
(at least 3 feet, preferably 4 feet).
- If you are on a corner, don’t
forget to shovel the side-street sidewalk
and to clear ramps at crosswalks.
- Remove or melt all ice within 6
hours of the time the ice forms.
- Stock up on ice melter before a
storm.
- Use ice melter with calcium
chloride (CaCl2), which is the
best choice for the environment
and only a small amount is required
to melt ice. Potassium chloride
(KCl) is okay, too.
- Avoid rock salt (NaCl or sodium
chloride), which kills plants
and trees.
- Do not use sand. It doesn’t
help pedestrians; but it makes
hard ice more slippery. It gets
into street drains and is expensive
to clean up in the spring.
- Remember that, for people on foot,
ice can be worse then snow. It can cause
dangerous falls. You are as responsible
for ice as you are for snow.
- The fine for failing to comply with
the City’s sidewalk clearance ordinances
is $35 a day. Even if you aren’t
around, it is your responsibility to ensure
someone clears sidewalks and ramps next
to your property.
- You can report the address of unshoveled
or icy sidewalks to the Snow Hotline,
617-349-4903 or email snow@cambridgema.gov
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Need help de-icing
your sidewalk?
The City provides salt for use by residents
in the locations listed below. Please be considerate:
take only what you need to get through the
current snow or ice event. |
Locations
of Salt Barrels |
| Fire
Departments |
| Engine 1 |
Headquarters
on Broadway |
| Engine 2 |
Lafayette Street |
| Engine 3 |
Cambridge Street |
| Engine 4 |
Mass Avenue @ Blake Street |
| Engine 5 |
Inman Square |
| Engine 6 |
River Street |
| Engine 8 |
Smith Place & Fawcett
Street (Temporary)
and Taylor Square at Garden & Sherman
Streets |
| Engine 9 |
Lexington Avenue |
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|
| Libraries |
| Concord Avenue |
245 Concord Avenue |
| Mt. Auburn |
64 Aberdeen Avenue |
| Heritage Branch |
48 Sixth Street |
| North Cambridge |
70 Rindge Avenue |
| Central Square |
45 Pearl Street |
| East Cambridge |
826 Cambridge Street |
| CRLS High School |
449 Broadway |
| |
|
| Other
Locations |
| Windsor Health Clinic |
105 Windsor Street |
| Area IV Youth Center |
243 Harvard Street |
| Banneker School |
Sargent Street (Driveway) |
| Immaculate Conception
Church |
Alewife Brook Parkway
(Driveway) |
| Police Department |
5 Western Avenue |
| Sleeper Park |
Cedar & Norris Streets |
| Cambridge Hospital |
1493 Cambridge Street |
| Cambridge Cemetery |
76 Coolidge Avenue |
| Public Works Department |
147 Hampshire Street |
| Danehy Park Parking Lot |
Sherman Street |
| Lenny Russell Bridge |
Huron Avenue at Aberdeen
Avenue |
| East End House |
109 Spring Street |
| Salt barrels
are also located in all municipal parking
lots in the City. |
|
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| Help for low-income
and elderly and/ or disabled homeowners |
If you are a homeowner on
a low income ($22,947 or less for a one-person
household in 2007) and you are elderly or
disabled, you may qualify for the City’s
Snow Exemption Program (in which case the
City will shovel your sidewalk). To apply,
call the Cambridge Council on Aging, 617-349-6220
(voice) or 617-349-6050 (TTY).
If you do not qualify, the Council on Aging
can provide you with a limited list of professional
snow removal companies and a list of students
who want to earn money by shoveling –
you contact the student yourself and negotiate
a price. |
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| When Parking During
a Snow Storm |
- 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)
- Even if no snow emergency has been
declared, remember these general
on-street parking guidelines:
- Always park at least 20 feet from
the street corner so plows can push
snow away from crosswalk. Parking
away from the corner improves visibility
and safety year-round
- It is illegal to “reserve”
cleared parking spaces; objects left
in on-street parking spaces will be
removed.
- Think safety: dig out fire hydrants
and street drains while digging out
your car.
- When digging out your car, think
about how you pile snow: don’t
create new problems in the street
or sidewalk.
- Please don’t take it personally
if the DPW plows push snow back into
your driveway or parked car. This
is really unavoidable as we work to
keep streets passable during all stages
of a storm.
|
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| For information about
school closings |
| Please call the 24-hr recorded
school link line at (617) 349-6513, check
the City's homepage, or watch Municipal Channel
8. |
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| DPW will work to keep
streets passable |
The DPW will clear the streets
as soon as possible. Our goals are to chemically
treat all major arteries within three hours
of when snow begins, to keep main arteries
plowed during all stages of a storm, and
to clear all streets and the 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 begin clearing snow. Initially these
plows are simply clearing a section of each
roadway to allow for safe passage. As the
storm begins to wind down, these same vehicles
will continue intheir assigned routes, pushing
snow as far back to the curb line or line
of parked cars on all of the City streets.
From the start of the storm and usually
well into the next day, we will push back
snow many times on the same streets to clear
snow to the maximum extent possible.
To make a street plowing/salting request,
please call the Operations Center at (617)
349-4800 or (617) 349-4846 to report the
location. |
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| DPW also clears over
18 miles of sidewalk areas including those
around schools, public buildings, parks and
high volume bus stops |
| Pedestrian areas to be cleared
are those areas surrounding City buildings,
major squares throughout the City including
Harvard, Central and Porter, and sidewalks
and pathways surrounding City parks. In addition
the City’s Traffic Department concentrates
on clearing all City owned parking lots, garages,
and the sidewalks and walkways surrounding
them. Hand crews are dispatched throughout
the storm and using both manual and mechanical
means begin clearing and chemically treating
these areas. Once the snow stops, City crews
continue this effort along with the clearing
of bus stops along some of the major bus routes,
and residential properties that fall under
the City’s snow exemption program. |