Evanston will have a snow route parking ban in effect — not tonight — but Friday night — to clean up after a storm that may dump 8 inches or more of snow on the city.
The snow is expected to start falling about 6 p.m. tonight and last until 9 p.m. Friday night.
Edgar Cano, public services bureau chief for the city, says the storm will cause problems for the Friday morning commute, because 4 to 5 inches of snow may have fallen by 7 a.m.
There is a chance that for part of the storm snow will be falling at a rate of up to an inch an hour.
The snow route parking ban for Friday night into Saturday morning means parking won’t be permitted from 11 a.m. to 6 a.m. on designated snow routes.
Cano says a snow emergency is anticipated for Saturday and Sunday. That applies to residential streets not posted as snow routes.
The city crews will clean the even-numbered side of the street on Saturday the 10th, and the odd side of the street on Sunday the 11th. So parking on the even side will be prohibited on Saturday and parking on the odd side will be prohibited on Sunday.
Cano says we could get an additional 1 to 2.5 inches of snow during the day Saturday.
Update 12:45 p.m.: To make it easier to get the streets cleared, the city will open all three downtown parking garages for free parking from 5 p.m. tonight through midnight Sunday night. The garages are located at 821 Davis St., 1800 Maple Ave. and 525 Church St.
Update 4:20 p.m.: Because of the snow threat, Ald. Peter Braithwaite has rescheduled tonight’s 2nd Ward meeting to Thursday, March 8, at 7 p.m., at the J.E.H. Education Center, 1500 McDaniel Ave.