Brian Johnson went outside to start his girlfriend’s car in West Garfield Park early Monday when he saw his car getting towed because it was in violation of the winter parking ban.
“My heart dropped. It sucked,” Johnson, 30, said. “I parked, literally, in front of my apartment, so to get that tow from my apartment is crazy.”
Johnson, who had to find a way to 103rd Street and Doty Avenue to retrieve the car, was one of 227 drivers who had their morning upended by the start of the parking ban. The ban is enforced on 107 miles of main streets from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. daily from Dec. 1 to April 1, according to the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation.
The 227 tows on the first night of the ban were the lowest in four years and the second-lowest this decade. Last year, 244 cars were towed, while 263 cars were hauled away in 2023, according to the department.
Those who violate the parking ban will be towed and face a minimum $150 towing fee, a $60 ticket, and a storage fee of $25 per day. Vehicles are towed to auto pounds at 10301 S. Doty Ave. or 701 N. Sacramento Ave.
Uriah Sakyiamah, 43, had his girlfriend drive him to the pound on Doty Avenue after his taxi was towed.
“The whole street was clean, there’s only snow on the sidewalk,” said Sakyiamah, who added that he wasn’t aware the ban remains in effect even if it doesn’t snow.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Sakyiamah said of the ban. “I don’t know why you can park your cars from April 2 to Dec. 1, but then Dec. 1 to April 1. … I don’t know why you can’t park your car if the street is clean.”
As several more perturbed drivers funneled in and out of the South Deering neighborhood pound Monday morning, many questioned where they can park when many of the enforced streets are close to residential areas with side streets not being immediately cleared of snow.
“It’s kind of odd parking in the same spot the whole time you’re on a lease, and then when winter comes, it’s like ‘boom,’ your car is already being taken,” Johnson said. “I get that they have to clean the street, but it sucks when it happens.
“You could park on a side street, but the side streets haven’t been cleared yet,” Johnson added. “So it’s like, what option do y’all give me? Y’all want me to get stuck on a side street?”
The annual parking ban was implemented after major snowstorms in 1967 and 1979 that caused substantial traffic congestion.
To check if your car was towed, visit chicagoshovels.org or call 311.
Here is a map of streets affected by the ban.