Columbia issues more than 100 tickets for parking on priority snow routes

So far, the city of Columbia has issued 135 tickets and towed eight cars that were parked on priority snow routes over the weekend.

According to the city’s website, no one is allowed to park on priority routes when 2 inches of snow or more accumulate. The car will be ticketed or towed at the owner’s expense if they violate this policy.

Each ticket costs $100 and city spokesperson Steve Sapp said the money goes back into the city’s General Fund.

Residents can contest their tickets in municipal court.

“Parking Utility staff do their best to warn drivers,” the city’s website states.

According to residents on Hinkson, a prioirty route in the Benton-Stephens neighborhood, they received flyers on their cars ahead of this weekend’s storm.

There are also signs posted year-round that warn of snow routes, and encourage residents to move their cars when the snow comes.

There are more than 1,300 lane miles of streets to maintain in Columbia, and nearly 500 of those are priority snow routes.

Here is a link to what is considered a priority route.

If you’d like to be reminded of when you need to move your car, you can text the phrase COLUMBIAPW to 573-888-777, or sign up for alerts at Nixle.com.

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