Winter parking ban in effect, nearly 240 vehicles towed in Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago's winter parking ban went into effect overnight. Nearly 240 vehicles violating the ban were towed early Monday morning.

Drivers scrambled to move their vehicles before 3 a.m. Monday. Unfortunately, not everyone remembered. Tow trucks were out in full force early Monday morning. A total of 239 vehicles were taken to city pounds on the first day of the annual ban, according to the Department of Streets and Sanitation.

"It's not a good way to start December. The signs are kind of misleading a little bit. I didn't really know if I was going to get towed or not. But I had to learn the hard way," said Zach Balcunas, whose Honda was towed on Monday.

Parking is prohibited along 107 miles of critical arterial streets in Chicago from 3-7 a.m. every night through March 31. To find out what streets are impacted by the ban, check out this map.

The city enforces the parking ban every year so that crews can plow and salt roads. The ban will be enforced whether there is snow on the ground or not.

"It's pretty stupid. Especially like, I get it sometimes. In the snow, they need to clear the roads. But there's no snow," said Jean Kalisky, whose car was towed on Monday.

Violators will have to pay a minimum towing fee of $150, a $60 parking ticket and a storage fee of $20 per day.

If drivers park on a banned stretch of road, their vehicle will be towed to Pound 2, which is located at 10301 South Doty Avenue in Chicago's South Deering neighborhood, or Pound 6, which is located at 701 North Sacramento Avenue in the city's East Garfield Park neighborhood.

Steve Siwula was just glad to find out his car wasn't stolen when he discovered it gone Monday morning.

"Yeah, it's frustrating. It's annoying. I'm going to lose money. But at the same time, I mean yeah, I wasn't supposed to. I didn't read the sign. It wasn't stolen, so that's good," Siwula said.

City officials said the city towed a total of 239 vehicles on Dec. 1 last year, 301 vehicles in 2012 and 215 vehicles in 2011.