Winter weather: Road closures and parking restrictions
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These lime-green cones will mark the special no-parking areas during the winter. |
Green cones will soon begin popping up in the parking lots — a sure sign that winter is coming to Fermilab. This means that it's time to take more care walking in parking lots and choosing where to park. In addition to parking restrictions, there will also be a few road closures this year.
Some roads on site will be closed all winter, starting with the first significant snowfall. With the road closures, crews can maintain the same level of service in critical areas of the site. North Eola Road from Batavia Road to Road C East and Wilson Road from McChesney to B Road will be closed for the winter. In addition, Main Ring Road will be closed to all travel except for emergency and service vehicles. Limited snow removal service in the Main Ring will only provide access for these vehicles. Service levels and access will not change in the F4/AZero and CZero areas.
Parking during the winter can also be more complicated. Every winter, FESS Roads and Grounds crews clear more than 85 parking lots across the Fermilab site during and after each weather event.
In an effort to streamline parking lot plowing operations without jeopardizing safety, FESS Roads and Grounds, in cooperation with building managers, designate areas in about 25 parking lots that will not receive snow removal service. These areas are marked with lime-green safety cones.
The cones will designate the areas as no-parking zones throughout the winter season. No vehicles may park in the marked zones. The cones will remain in place until the second half of March. Fermilab security personnel will monitor the no-parking areas.
Establishing these areas allows for effective and frequent snow removal efforts in high-priority locations while keeping costs low. In addition, using less salt and less fuel will have a beneficial environmental effect.
It's important to focus our efforts in keeping the roads and walkways as clear as possible, as injuries resulting from falls while walking on snowy and icy surfaces continue to be one of our main winter concerns at Fermilab. With more than 400 building entrances on site, it is challenging for snow crews to keep every entrance snow and ice free all winter. Employees and users are encouraged to walk more slowly, to take smaller steps and to look closely for snow and ice. Uneven surfaces can complicate matters. Chunks of ice and snow or even coarse rock salt can cause normally smooth surfaces to become uneven. Expect the unexpected, wear footwear that provides traction on snow and ice, slow down and don't let yourself become distracted while walking in winter conditions.
If you have questions about parking during the winter season, please contact the building manager for your work area.
—Dave Shemanske
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