St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter praises winter storm response

St. Paul Mayor Carter: We still need people to stay off snow plow routes

In an appearance on the FOX 9 Morning News show, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter praised the community response to this week's winter snowstorm and asked the public to continue to follow snow emergency rules.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter praised the community's response to this week's winter snowstorm and asked the public to continue to follow snow emergency rules during an interview with FOX 9 Morning News on Thursday.

"We still need people staying off of the plow roads so that we can get through the city," he said.

Carter noted that 350 residents had taken the city’s offer of free parking in city-owned ramps, making the job of overnight snow plow crews easier.

He added that announcing back-to-back snow emergencies for Wednesday and Thursday had enabled residents to plan ahead.

"So they can plan for where to put their car, they can plan for how to how to do things, how to get their stuff together so they can be ready to sort of hunker down at home," he said.

Carter said emergency crews could navigate streets without an issue, including St. Paul firefighters, who put out a house fire early Thursday morning with no injuries reported.

"That's really critical for us as we could as the snow continues. Our job is to fight it back and to continue to fight it back. And, of course, once it stops, that's when we'll get a chance to actually clear it from our streets permanently," he said.

St. Paul opening more parking lots for residents during snow emergency

Along with previously opened parking ramp, the City of St. Paul announced Thursday they are allowing parking at some rec centers during the snow emergency cleanup.

Those centers include:

Arlington Arkwright Park (400 Arlington Avenue East)
Arlington Hills Community Center (1200 Payne Avenue)
Battle Creek Recreation Center (75 Winthrop Street South)
Duluth and Case Recreation Center (1020 Duluth Street)
Edgcumbe Recreation Center (320 Griggs Street South)
Frogtown Community Center (230 Como Avenue)
Hazel Park Recreation Center (945 Hazel Street North)
Highland Park Community Center (1978 Ford Parkway)
Jimmy Lee/Oxford Community Center (270 Lexington Parkway North)
Martin Luther King Recreation Center (271 North Mackubin Street)
North Dale Recreation Center (1414 Saint Albans Street North)
Rice and Arlington / Municipal Athletics (1500 Rice Street)
West Minnehaha Recreation Center (685 West Minnehaha Avenue)

Those lots are open Thursday until Sunday at 5 p.m. to allow residents to move their vehicles from street parking.

Previously, the city opened parking at several ramps around the downtown area.

Smith Ramp (145 Smith St)
Kellogg Underground Ramp (129 Kellogg Blvd)
Lawson Ramp (10 West 6th St)
Lowertown Ramp (316 Jackson St)
7A Ramp (13 West Exchange St)
Robert Street Ramp (95 East 7th St)
Block 19 Ramp (145 East 7th St)
World Trade Center Ramp (477 Cedar St)

Snow emergencies continue

St. Paul called two back-to-back snow emergencies starting Wednesday night. Throughout the day on Thursday, crews are working to plow night plow routes. Starting at 9 p.m., plow crews will shift back to night plow routes, meaning residents will have to move their vehicles again. The city says you can park on any day plow route overnight – even if they are still snow covered.

Friday morning at 8 a.m., St. Paul crews will resume work on day plow routes until 5 p.m.

Anyone parked in the wrong spots on Thursday or Friday will face towing or ticketing. You can check this map if you are unsure which route your street is.

Cleanup will continue through the weekend into next week, city officials add.