Snow plowing in Marblehead, MA: reserve your season pass

Plowing a driveway in Marblehead

Marblehead is a peninsula town that began as a fishing village with narrow, crooked streets. Much of Old Town is a historic district, and Marblehead Neck is reached by a narrow isthmus. In these areas the houses sit close to tight streets, so there is little room for plowed snow and cars are packed along the curb.

The town declares a snow emergency parking ban for each storm. Recent notices ran from 9 p.m. until roads were safe, or overnight from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., and one ran for four nights. During a ban it is illegal to park any vehicle, boat or trailer on a public way, and violators can be ticketed or towed. When cars come off the street they go into drives, which means the first plow pass often happens with a drive already full or about to be.

The town warns that putting snow and ice on a fire hydrant, sidewalk or roadway is prohibited, so plowed snow from a drive has to stay on your lot. That is hard on small lots in Old Town. We could not find a town rule on sidewalk shoveling deadlines, so check with the town. A drive that is plowed after the city plow passes, with the end bank cleared, makes it easier to get out in the morning and to meet the rules on where snow can go. Neck and harbor-side drives can also be steep or tight, so tell us what yours looks like. Plan for the case where the ban is declared overnight: cars come off the street late at night, and a morning plow pass is the only way to get them back out.