The National Weather Service says the Chicago area may get five to nine inches of snow before the storm that’s now underway ends sometime Sunday morning.

The City of Evanston, Amita Health and Evanston Township High School are offering free parking at a number of locations to help reduce on-street parking during and after the storm.

The city’s Maple Avenue garage downtown will provide free parking from Saturday through Thursday. (Update 5 p.m. 1/1/22: Late this afternoon the city announced that drivers will NOT need to present a ticket to exit the Maple Avenue garage through Thursday — gates will be open.)

Regular parking fees will apply at the Sherman Plaza and Church Street parking garages starting Monday. But parking at those locations is free through Sunday.

AMITA Health is offering free parking to Evanston residents in its parking garage, located at Sherman Avenue and Austin Street.

Residents can also park in ETHS Parking Lots 1 and 1A. Drivers should enter the lots from Davis Street east of Dodge Avenue.

And the city is offering free parking in the following surface parking lots through Thursday:

  • Lot 3, 1700 Chicago Ave.
  • Lot 4, Central Street at Stewart Avenue (metered spaces only)
  • Lot 16, 800/900 Noyes St. at the CTA tracks
  • Lot 24, 727 Main St.
  • Lot 25, 1614 Maple Ave. (metered spaces only)
  • Lot 27, 1621 Oak Ave.
  • Lot 51, 927 Noyes St. (metered spaces only)
  • Lot 54, Central Street Metra Station
  • James Park, between the west field house and the hill, as well as the south lot near the CTA tracks, but not the Levy Center parking lot.

A map of city surface lot locations is available online.

Bill Smith is the editor and publisher of Evanston Now.