Winter Parking Rules Now In Effect

With the start of November comes the beginning of winter parking.  Winter parking regulations are now in effect and area police departments are reminding motorists to not park on the street overnight.

“Winter parking is coming up November 1st through April 30th. You need to be aware at 2:00am to 7:00am in the city of Houghton you can not park on any city street, any city parking structure above or below, again from the hours of 2 am to 7 am,” said Lt. Nick Roberts of the Houghton Police Department.

Folks of the Keweenaw have already seen a little bit of snow fall this season, and although accumulation has been minimal, it’s time to start thinking about snow removal.

Roberts said, “Winter parking is for snow removal. We have our crews out there cleaning up the roads to make them safe for our drivers during the day. That requires all night of plowing, so we need to make sure that those streets are clear. If they’re not clear, they have to go around vehicles and guess what’s there in the morning—it’s a pile of snow and that builds up. It’s for our safety and your safety so we can keep those streets clean and maintained.”

Parking tickets in the city of Houghton can range from $35 to over $100 depending on whether or not that vehicle is blocking snow removal equipment.

“Officers are out nightly checking for parking violations on night parking. We will be out there every night. If it’s not snowing, we issue parking tickets, if it’s snowing and our crews our out, you may get a ticket and towed,” Roberts said.

Michigan Tech has also began it’s winter parking schedule, prohibiting parking on campus between the hours of 2 – 7 am.  There are a couple of exceptions to that rule: University employees who begin a work shift prior to 7:00 am, and have an assigned parking space are exempt. University housing occupants with valid parking permits and visitors who have purchased permits are also exempt.

The city of Hancock takes a friendly approach to reminding residents not to park on the streets this time of year.

Hancock Police Chief Wayne Butler said, “We hope to get cooperation from people who park their vehicles on the street, preventing snow removal. We would much rather give out two or three hundred warning tickets than issue tickets. All we want is compliance and we’d love to have a winter where we don’t have to issue a bunch of tickets.”

Police officers began placing courtesy cards on illegally parked vehicles this week that reminds the operator to park somewhere other than the street to allow for proper snow removal.  By passing out reminders early in the season the goal is to gain community compliance before snow removal begins.

“People always tend to have excuses as to why they leave their vehicle on the road. But again, our goal is just to get compliance and not have to write tickets. Obviously when the snow gets here, we will be required to impound the vehicle as well which is a cost to the owner.”

Questions regarding where to find overnight parking can be directed to local city offices.

Houghton Police Department- (906) 482-2121
Hancock Police Department- (906) 482-3102
Village of Calumet- (906) 337-1713
Michigan Tech Parking Services- (906) 487-1441