2 weeks Ago By Kaitlin Washburn
Chicago’s yearly winter parking ban kicked in Sunday morning but not a single car was towed. Instead, for the first time in recent memory, the city gave out warnings to cars parked on the restricted streets. A Department of Streets and Sanitation spokesperson told the Sun-Times the city decided not to tow because of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
The 3 to 7 a.m. ban, which starts Dec.
1 and ends April 1, is enforced whether there’s snow or not. The city will begin towing cars Monday morning. The flyers found on cars in the Austin neighborhood explained the parking restriction and included a map of the streets under the ban.
A flyer indicating winter parking regulations in the windshield of a car parked on Central Avenue in the Austin neighborhood, on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times A flyer indicating winter parking regulations in the windshield of a car parked on Central Avenue in the Austin neighborhood, on Sunday, Dec.
1, 2024. Zubaer Khan/Sun-Times The spokesperson could not recall a previous time the city opted to warn drivers instead of towing their cars on Dec. 1.
The city has towed cars the first night of the ban for at least the last 15 years, according to the Sun-Times archives. In 2019, the last time the first of the month fell on the Sunday immediately after Thanksgiving, the city towed 248 cars that morning. Violators are towed and hit with a fine of at least $235, which includes a minimum $150 towing fee, a $60 ticket and a storage fee of $25 per day.
Towed vehicles will end up at a pound at 10301 S. Doty Ave. or 701 N.
Sacramento Ave. The overnight ban is in effect on 107 miles of main streets throughout the city. Those streets include parts of Milwaukee, Madison, Division, Central, Archer, Kedzie, King, Cottage Grove, 79th and 103rd streets.
At the start of the ban last year, 263 cars were towed . The streets and sanitation department estimates 65 cars are towed each day the ban is in effect. The city says the parking ban ensures plows can quickly respond to snow on major roads and keeps those streets clear for emergency vehicles and public transportation.
The annual ban was implemented after major snowstorms in 1967 and 1979 caused widespread traffic jams in the city. To check if your car was towed, visit chicagoshovels.org or call 311.
Here’s a map of the streets affected by the ban..
