St. Paul has exceeded snow removal budget

The City of St. Paul has already exceeded its snow removal budget for the year.

The city sets aside enough money for four snow emergencies per calendar year. Since January first, it has called five.

Mayor Chris Coleman says cold temperatures have prevented the snow from melting, exacerbating the situation.

"All I can think of is this is the winter of our discontent that simply refuses to end, apparently," Coleman said. "It is one of the coldest winters we've ever had. It is one of the snowier winters that we've had in a while."

Snowbanks have grown so large that the city is banning parking on the even side of all residential streets, something the city has never done before. The ban starts Saturday.

Coleman says most years only seven inches of snow are left on the ground by the end of February, not the more than the 20 inches that are piled up now. The last time there was this much snow at this time of the year was 1982.

Minneapolis, which also has winter parking restrictions in effect, still has money in its snow budget. But it has spent $2 million dollars more than normal on snow removal.