With winter weather under way, the Albert Lea Police Department is advising residents to keep in mind the city’s policy regarding snow removal and street parking to allow adequate plowing up to the curb.

Albert Lea Police Department Lt. J.D. Carlson said people should remember vehicles are only allowed to park for 12 hours at a time on the street. This is the general rule throughout the year; however, during the summer it is typically enforced by complaint only.

During the winter, officers actively conduct a sweep of the city to look for vehicles that need to be moved, Carlson said. Automobiles who show signs of being parked for more than 12 hours are orange-tagged, and then the owner of the vehicle has four hours to move it or it can be towed at the owner’s expense.

City officials encourage residents to use off-street parking when at all possible for vehicles and trailers.

Snowplowing is generally not conducted for snowfalls of less than 3 inches.

According to the city’s snowplowing policy, priorities for removal are the following (in order of priority):

• Trunk highways, arterial and collector streets

• Emergency vehicle locations

• School streets

• Bus routes

• Residential streets and alleys

• City parking lots

The city’s most heavily-traveled streets are plowed first, and then plows disperse to the less-traveled residential areas.

The timing and extent of the snowfall is critical to when snowplowing begins, according to the city policy.

It is the responsibility of property owners to remove snow from their own sidewalks and driveways.

Did you know?

• There are 10 plow routes in the city of Albert Lea.
• One city plow route can have more than 700 driveways, 800 mailboxes and 80 intersections.
• The Albert Lea Street Department equipment logs more than 700 miles each snowfall.
— Information from Albert Lea Public Information Officer Teresa Kauffmann