With the holiday season underway, Chicago drivers should be aware that the city’s winter snow parking ban begins on Monday, December 1.
Drivers face steep penalties if their vehicles are parked overnight on the city’s designated routes that must remain clear for plows during heavy snowfall.
The ban is enforced on 107 miles of Chicago’s major streets from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m., now through April 1, regardless of whether snow is present on the affected roads.
Streets covered by the ban include portions of Martin Luther King Drive, Cottage Grove, 79th Street, 103rd Street, Madison, Division, Central, Archer and Kedzie.
Permanent signage is posted along all designated routes. As an added reminder, the Department of Streets and Sanitation places flyers on cars parked along these streets before the restrictions begin.
Drivers who violate the ban will have their vehicles towed and will face a minimum $150 towing fee, a $60 ticket and a $25-per-day storage fee. Vehicles are typically taken to Auto Pound 2 (10301 S. Doty Ave.) or Auto Pound 6 (701 N. Sacramento).
Auto Pound payment policies require that credit cards used for payment match the vehicle owner’s registered address.
Drivers can locate their towed vehicles by calling 311 or by visiting chicagoshovels.org.
Last year, when the ban began on Sunday, December 1, 2024, the city issued a rare one-day reprieve. Instead of towing vehicles on the first night, officials placed warning flyers on cars. The following day, however, about 244 vehicles were towed. In 2023, approximately 263 vehicles were towed, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
City officials say the ban is a key public safety measure, ensuring that plows, emergency vehicles and public transportation can move safely during winter storms.
Chicago’s annual winter parking ban was established after the historic snowstorms of 1967 and 1979, which caused widespread gridlock across the city.
A separate “two-inch snow parking ban” applies to another 500 miles of main streets and may be activated when two or more inches of snow fall, regardless of the time of day or date. While this ban is not often activated, drivers parked on affected streets during a snowfall may be ticketed or have their vehicles relocated to allow plows to clear the roads.