Snow-Buried Cars Causing Bedlam for Somerville Snow Recovery

Image: Patch File Photo

Somerville car owners who ignored a two-day warning to move their abandoned, snow-encased vehicles will have to pony up for a $35 ticket and a $128 towing charge if they continue to do so.

But according to a Boston Globe article on the current state of snowstorm recovery in Somerville, the city would prefer if residents keep their money and just get their cars out of the way, so as not to hinder efforts to widen roads and clear out parking spaces.

“Crews can’t tell if they are just cars or snow piles at this point,” Somerville spokeswoman Denise Taylor told The Globe. “It’s a risk for our equipment, and obviously bad for a car that gets hit, if they do hit it while trying to plow.”

Taylor told the source that additional workers have been tapped to scout ahead of removal workers, and inform them when they’re approaching a mass that could be a pile of snow, or a pile of snow with an car underneath it.

Furthermore, says the Globe, even if residents dutifully pay their fines, that leaves removal workers tasked with digging out and relocating their vehicles, which they do not consider a productive use of their time.