tjspiel

Though we haven't had overly huge amounts of snow this year, very little of what we gotten since early December has melted. This has resulted in wide snow banks that have narrowed the streets.

As a cyclist, the ban is a good thing because in many places near my house there isn't enough room for a car to pass me (in either direction) with any kind of comfort zone. The downside of course is that parking in front of our house will be scarcer.

swwhite

Are you able to get through the greasy snow mush that has been on the streets? I just can't. I have been driving to work since it arrived in December.

gerv 

We get quite a bit of that "greasy snow mush", but if it warms up to around 25F, it all seems to melt and the streets become dry again. I have a lot of trouble maneuvering in that type of snow, too. It's like your worst MTB trail.

PaulRivers

Thanks for the update.

Recently I had been thinking about what a terrible job Minneapolis was doing on my street - it's like they plow it every other snowfall.

It's funny because right after that -
1. I went over to St Paul - I got on a street I think they literally *never* plowed. Do they even plow at all on the residential streets over there? It really kinda funny - I watched this car trying to park get stuck halfway into the street parking space it was trying to get into (it backed out ok later). The snow on the street went up to the undercarriage of the car - there was no room between the bottom of the car and the snow as you drove down the street.
2. They came by and plowed right in front of my house, then immediately
3. Banned parking on the even side of the street

As I have a garage, it works ok for me, but it's annoying to remember to tell my guests where to park...I'm just really happy I don't live in uptown or something where you actually *need* all the street spaces for parking!

filtersweep

Seems rather late in the year for a parking ban. Years ago I lived in Uptown with no off-street parking-- and worked 2nd shift. I couldn't even find a hydrant to park next to after work. Those were the days....

tjspiel

It's been the worst year since I've started all-season commuting. I altered my route so that I spend more time on busier streets where there's enough traffic to wear most of the snow off. The first several blocks until I get to a main artery are slow going though. This most recent snow has actually helped smooth out some of the ruts on the side streets and it melted off the busier roads pretty quickly.

Greasy/pushed around snow is a challenge. After trying a few different types of studded tires in the last couple of years, both narrower and wider, I've settled on a set that's sort of in between. They seem to have enough float not to dig into every rut, yet narrow enough to cut through some of the mush. They're not perfect, just better than what I've used in the past.

tjspiel

I'm not sure what sort of scheme they use to make sure they hit every street and alley but I think they've altered it and it's not always working. Maybe it is an "every other snow" scheme designed to save money. They did a good job during after the most recent snowfall. Actually went through our alley twice.

PaulRivers

Yeah, they did a good job after the most recent snowfall on my street to - the one before that though they just totally biffed. At least on my street.

gna

St. Paul has done a terrible job this year. The weather has been odd, though. We got a bunch of heavy, wet snow around Christmas, then it got cold, and froze these huge ice blobs to the streets. They've finally got many of them cleared off main roads, but now we have potholes everywhere.

This last snowfall hasn't helped. Some side streets don't seem to have been plowed at all.

MNBikeguy

Interesting comments tj.
My commute doesn't take me downtown, but when driving through there I've thought of you.
The lack of snow removal downtown is an absolute mess. I've never seen it like this and I've lived here for many years.

KLW2

I commute through Mendota Heights and Eagan and so far they have been cleaning the major streets pretty well..I try not to ride on the day of the snow to stay away from the cars sliding all over...

sauerwald

Why is it that we (society) feel obligated to design streets with on-street parking. Shouldn't the burden of providing parking fall on the residents or businesses? - Why should I pay to have roads that are wide enough to accommodate parking, but not wide enough to accomodate a sharable width lane?

tjspiel

Depending on what part of the city you live in, there may be little or no off-street parking. The lots are smaller and so are the garages, - if they exist at all. The city is older than the automobile.

My neighborhood was developed in the 30's. Most homes have a small one car garage. But since we have so much more "stuff" than the people that lived here 70 years ago, many people use there garages for storage and park on the street.

Likewise most of the non-residential buildings in the area were constructed when people typically walked to get to the store, deli, restaurant, bar, etc. No room was set aside for off-street parking.

Though it really shows how dependent we've become on the automobile the way they're lined up in front of the houses, I prefer it to the suburban model. Lack of off-street parking at area businesses and homes means less space devoted to concrete and encourages people to walk. Since the streets are narrower due to the cars parked on them, people don't drive as fast.

irclean

What type of tires did you settle on, tjspiel?

bornagainst

Here here. I live in Minneapolis and commute to St. Paul through Seward and then on Lake/Marshall most of the way. As soon as you hit the St. Paul side(where there is actually SUPPOSED to be a bike lane) it's basically unrideable - especially during rush hour. And now the crater-sized potholes are emerging. St. Paul should be banning parking instead of Minneapolis who, IMO, has done a stellar job(in comparison) with plowing and upkeep this winter.

JeffS

I think you just made his point for him. People park on the street because it's there. I'm not sure why the entire tax base should have to subsidize someone's parking space.

I despise it, ESPECIALLY in residential areas.

mmac

After all, who ever has more than 3 or 4 friends come over to a party. If ALL of your friends can't come to visit in one vehicle that can fin in your driveway you need to seriously re-evaluate your friend situation and consider cutting a few.

gna

Didn't they ban parking near the bridge, so it would safer for bikes? It doesn't matter, though. The bike lanes on both Summit and Marshall either have cars parked in them, or slop, snow, and ice all over them. Good luck to you.

We had some sun the past few days and temps in the 20s, so the road were clearing up, but then it started snowing again last night...

tjspiel

Couldn't you make same argument for cycling infrastructure? Why should people who drive subsidize it?

If you didn't have room for parking on residential streets, how would you get deliveries of anything? It's a rare thing to see a driveway or garage on the front of someone's house.

And you have to remember, where I live and in most places in the cities, it's a mix of residential and businesses, though businesses tend to be on the corners. To not allow parking on the streets would mean no parking for businesses.

tjspiel

First of all an actual driveway is not a given in the city and if you have one there's a very good chance it's already occupied by your own car.

If you've never had more than 3 or 4 people over at your home, you live a much different life than I do.

shouldberiding

Here they declare "snow emergency" days where every evening after midnight cars are banned from parking on one side of the street, and thus ticketed if parked there. But they run it by odd and even numbered days to determine which side of the street your park on.

So basically, every time it snows more than a couple of inches half of the parking disappears in the downtown/campus area.

And they don't allow any leniency to people with their cars plowed under 3 feet of snow if they're parked in two hour parking, which is basically three quarters of the residential streets in the city.

I hate city government...

tjspiel

I have Nokian W240's in the 40mm size. "Cookie Dough" snow is still something I have to be careful on but these work for me better than the others I've tried. The other thing that helped is a tip I've seen on these forums a fews times and that is to keep your weight back and off the front wheel as much as possible.

tjspiel

They do that here too. The problem is that it takes them a couple of days to get the streets fully plowed. By that time the snow has already been compressed down and the plows don't get the roads completely clean. Unless you get a thaw at some point, over time the compressed snow turns to ice and builds up. The banks encroach more and more onto the road and that's what has led to the current parking ban on the even side of the street.

Though the ban has made my commute easier, I was surprised that they did it so late in the season. The sun is high enough in the sky to do some serious melting even if the temp doesn't climb above freezing (which it will start to do consistently in the next few weeks). On the other hand we did get more snow last night and those banks are starting to cast some big shadows.

mmac

I can see sarcasm isn't you're forte. As a general rule, if somebody on the internet is saying something that seems kinda off they're probably not being serious.

PaulRivers

Err...I think you missed that he was being sarcastic. And agreeing with you!

I feel the same way I think he does "Oh yeah, if I want to have more than 3 people over I'll totally just change who I'm friends with to accommodate your ideology" (rolls eyes)