Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and Buffalo's Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon held a news conference on Wednesday in anticipation of a significant lake effect winter storm expected to reach the region starting Friday.
Poloncarz says it's important to mark which areas are Southern Erie County, and where a lake effect snow warning takes effect.
"Southern Erie County is primarily ski country: Colden, Boston, Holland, Evans, Eden, Sardinia, Springville, Concord, in those areas," said Poloncarz on Wednesday. "Central Erie County includes Hamburg and Orchard Park, as well as Aurora, but also Lackawanna and South Buffalo. And then Northern Erie County includes the vast majority of the City of Buffalo, Town of Tonawanda, City of Tonawanda, Amherst."
According to Poloncarz, the county's Department of Public Works crews can handle storm totals of 2-to-3 feet of snow.
"It's when it gets above three feet of snow in which it gets very difficult to handle the amount of snow, especially when there's vehicles on the road," Poloncarz said.
When there's a driving ban in place, there's two factors that come into play.
"The No. 1 factor is the preservation of life and the safety of people's lives. The second factor is to keep vehicles off the road, because, as we've seen in the past, when vehicles are on the road, they get stuck. And when they get stuck, it hinders our efforts to be able to clean the roads, because we cannot put a plow down a road if there's two cars stuck on it," Poloncarz explained.
Poloncarz is hoping that such a ban won't be necessary with this storm over the weekend and into Monday morning.
Related
The City of Buffalo's Division of Parking Enforcement will start enforcing its winter parking rules, effective at 1:30 a.m. EST on Monday, Dec. 2. Due to an unseasonably warm month of November, the City of Buffalo had delayed enforcement of the winter parking regulations, which typically take effect on Nov. 15.
For Buffalo residents, this means:
- Overnight parking on Bus Routes is prohibited between the hours of 1:30 a.m. EST and 7 a.m. EST.
- Daytime parking is no longer permissible on side streets with seasonal alternate parking rules.
"As November gives way to December, we’re preparing for the transition to winter weather here in the City of Buffalo," said Mayor Scanlon. "I want to thank the public for their cooperation in adhering to winter parking rules, which are vital to ensuring safe and accessible streets for everyone. Safety remains a top priority, and our teams are ready to keep our city moving throughout the season."
The winter parking rules are in effect until April 1, 2025. The city uses these rules to give city plow crews better access to clear snow from city streets during the winter.