Street Clearing A Big Task in Minneapolis
By Telly Mamayek, NewsRadio 830 WCCO
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- Digging out from the weekend snowstorm is taking longer than usual. In Minneapolis, it's day three of the snow emergency, which bans parking on the odd side of residential streets until 8 p.m. Monday.
City Streets Supervisor Mike Kennedy said that ban will be enforced even though the even sides of many side streets have not been cleared yet.
"We need to enforce the parking restrictions, otherwise we can't get in and do anything," said Kennedy.
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The city expected to have 65 plows clearing the streets today, with drivers working in 12-hour shifts.
"Hopefully by working together and with some patience we can dig our way out of this, but it's going to take awhile. This one's extraordinary," said Kennedy.
The City of St. Paul also declared a snow emergency. There is no parking on day plow routes until they're plowed from curb to curb.
St. Paul public works spokeswoman Shannon Tyree says city snow plow drivers fell behind on their efforts to clear the streets. Tyree says they're running out of places to put the snow.
Classes were canceled in the Minneapolis and St. Paul Public School Districts on Monday because of all the snow that remains on city streets.
The 17 inches recorded at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport makes it the fifth biggest snowfall on record for the Twin Cities. Airport runways are open and crews are busy melting mountains of snow.
Airport spokesman Pat Hogan says they have 42 snow melters, which look like big trash bins. Hogan says the equipment can melt 40 tons of snow per hour. The melted snow is sent down the storm drain.
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