Snow in parking spaces in downtown Washington on February 2nd, 2015. Photo by Sally Hart

Emergency snow routes and parking options were discussed by the Washington City Council at their special session meeting Tuesday. Council member Bob Shepherd explained he is in favor of an even/odd parking policy during snow emergencies, where cars can park on the certain sides of streets based on whether it is an even or odd day on the calendar.

Maintenance staff and police personnel were also in attendance and provided insight to last year’s snow emergencies. One suggestion in the downtown was to allow parking only on the inside lane of the square, closest to the park.

Council member Kathy Salazar’s motion passed unanimously. She moved to direct staff to draft an ordinance for a snow emergency policy with no parking allowed on priority one streets and even/odd parking on the tier two, three and four streets. The motion also included reconsidering and potentially increasing the cost for parking tickets and looking into the use of various parking lots in the downtown area.

First Priority Streets:
– Polk (Iowa to 9th)
– Iowa (Madison to Polk)
– 9th (Washington to Polk)
– Monroe (B to Highway 1)
– B (Monroe to W. 5th)
– 2nd (Washington to 13th)
– Old Highway 1 (13th to 15th)
– Marion (15th to city limits)
– 12th (Washington to north city limits)
– Fire entrance
– Public safety (W. 2nd, B, N 2nd)
– W. 5th (N. 2nd to Highway 1/92)
– E. 7th (N. 2nd to N. 12th)
– E. 11th (N. 2nd to N. 12th)
– N. 8th (7th to 15th)
– 15th (12th to Marion)