The city of Brainerd is declaring a snow emergency effective Thursday morning.

To keep roads, sidewalks, and residents safe, road crews will be out to make sure all pavement is cleared. Snow plowing will start at 4 a.m. on Dec. 22, and on that day there will be no parking on the following streets:

• All snow emergency routes
• All north-south streets or streets that generally run north-south
• All streets west of the Mississippi River
• All streets south of Wright Street

On Friday, Dec. 23, there is no parking on the following streets:

• All snow emergency routes
• All east-west streets or streets that generally run east-west

According to the city, staff will likely plow the entire city on Thursday, with clean-up on east-west streets starting on Friday.

To help make their jobs easier, Brainerd city engineer Jessie Dehn is asking for the public’s help and cooperation.

“The snow emergency routes are obviously the most pressing in priority,” says Dehn. “We want people to be off of there so we can clear those and make sure we have those major routes available.”

Cars parked on snow emergency routes will be ticketed and towed immediately. Parking is banned on all other city streets the day they are scheduled to be plowed until they have been plowed from curb to curb.

All vehicles plowed around will be issued a $25 parking citation. Vehicles not moved within 48 hours of being plowed around will be towed at the owner’s expense.

More information on the city’s snow emergency policy can be found on their website.

By — Lakeland News