Posted at: 02/09/2010 9:21 PM | KSAX.com
By: Joe Mazan & Jacob Kittilstad

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Snow forces Minneapolis to limit street parking

Minneapolis snowbanks have piled up so high that city officials decided to ban parking on one side of the street for the rest of the winter.

The decision was in response to concern for the city's emergency vehicles which could be delayed due to crowded streets.

As the snow piles up on the curb, people must park their vehicles farther into the street.

Tom Myhre, paramedic for Hennepin Country Medical Center, said a one-side parking ban would make it easier to drive an ambulance through cramped side streets.

"Even if you are going code 3 with lights and sirens on sometimes you have to creep through some of these narrow areas," Myhre said.

The city hasn't enacted this kind of restriction since 2001 and although it is meant to help emergency vehicles, it could also impair them, Myhre said.

"You may be opening up the street to get better passage for the actual vehicle but on the other hand are you robbing peter to pay paul? By stacking up the cars on one side then those addresses become a lot more difficult to access," said Myhre.

The parking rule bans parking on the even number side of the street.

Although the ban would cause the city to lose half of its street parking, some city drivers say the skinny, snow-filled roads can be dangerous.

"It's terrible driving," said Minneapolis resident Ellie Harmsen. "You have to pull over every time someone has to pass. It's just really bad."

The ban will take effect Thursday and last through April 1st.