Dearborn Declaring Snow Emergency Monday at Noon

The City of Dearborn is declaring a snow emergency from noon Monday, Jan. 27, through 3 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28.

The city’s outdoor sirens will sound at noon to announce the snow emergency, and again Monday evening and Tuesday morning as reminders.

All parked vehicles must be removed from city streets by 12 p.m. to allow for safe and efficient snowplowing. Vehicles in the street during the snow emergency may be ticketed or towed. Tickets are $40 if paid within three days, or $80 if paid later.

It's important that people move their parked cars each time a snow emergency is declared, not just to avoid tickets, but also to prevent snow from accumulating at the curb, said Mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr. 

Over time, and with the repeated snowfalls the region has experienced in January, the snow buildup can limit drivers’ ability to safely navigate two-way traffic on residential streets.       

“We know snow emergencies can be inconvenient for people because they must move their parked cars off the street,” said Mayor O'Reilly. “But that inconvenience is outweighed by the need to keep streets passable for all drivers, and to allow emergency vehicles speedy access to everyone across Dearborn.”

Plowing on Monday and Tuesday will also prepare the roads for more snow predicted later this week. Due to the extreme bitter temperatures, salt will not work to melt the snow, so plowing is especially needed.

For Dearborn residents without driveways, the city recommends that people make arrangements with their neighbors who have driveways to park there temporarily, said Mary Laundroche, public information director for the City of Dearborn.

"With these repeated snow falls in January we cannot let the snow accumulate," she said. "There's not a lot of leeway that we have when we're talking about public safety."