Will cars parked on Cedar City streets during snowplow operations be ticketed? Officials say ‘no’

This 2015 file photo shows a snowplow on 500 S. Main Street, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 23, 2015 | Photo by Carin Miller, St. George News and Cedar City News

ST. GEORGE — Cedar City residents have expressed concern after hearing that the city would begin ticketing cars left parked on streets while snowplows are out. However, Cedar City News could not corroborate that any citations have been or will be issued as a result of street parking.

2016 file photo of Cedar City sign covered in snow, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 1, 2016 | Photo by Carin Miller, St. George News

“There is no such program here in Cedar City,” Cedar City Manager Paul Bittmenn told Cedar City News Friday.

He said while the topic was discussed during a council meeting around 15 years ago, nothing ever came it and the subject hasn’t been brought up since.

The Cedar City Police Department was also contacted since the task of issuing such citations would typically fall on police officers. According to Cedar City Police Sgt. Clint Pollock, the department has not been made aware of any such program, nor have officers been instructed to issue citations to area residents for parking their vehicles along the street.

Pollock asked Cedar City Police Chief Darin Adams about the issue, who said the department is unaware of any ordinance or program directing his officers to issue any such parking citations.

Cedar City Streets and Solid Waste Superintendent, Jeff Hunter, was out of the office, but his assistant said she did not know of any such program in place.

Bittmenn said there are regulations in other cities across the state that enforce parking restrictions during the winter months to allow for snowplow operations, but Cedar City isn’t one of them.

A tow plow is able to clear more lanes at a higher speed and contains more salt and brine, Salt Lake County, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of the Utah Department of Transportation, St. George News

Residents in West Jordan are prohibited from parking a vehicle or semitrailer on a street when it is snowing or snow is on the street from November through April of the following year, and any vehicle left snowbound for more than 48 hours can be impounded.

Regardless of whether there is or isn’t any type of program or city ordinance prohibiting parking along Cedar City’s roadways, the Utah Department of Transportation, responsible for plowing all state-owned roadways, including interstates, highways and high-volume roads, offers safety tips and recommendations designed to increase motorist safety during snowplow operations.

Traveling behind a snowplow may be frustratingly slow, but speed is an important factor in effective snow removal, and slower speeds ensure that the snow being thrown off to the side of the road lands where it is supposed to.

As such, UDOT recommends that motorists reduce their speed and travel about a football field’s length behind a snowplow as following too closely often results in broken windshields or damaged paint caused by salt or abrasives being distributed along the highway.

Drivers should also use extreme caution when passing a snowplow, UDOT authorities say, and since these machines are equipped with wing plows and trailers that can extend or swing out several feet on either side, drivers should never pass on the right side or on the shoulder.

Additionally, drivers should never pass through a snowplow’s “cloud,” which is the snow thrown when in operation.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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