Gary, IN Parking Rules: Snow Removal Parking Rules (2026)

Gary Municipal Code Article VI of Chapter 40 lets the mayor, or in his absence the deputy mayor or general services director, declare a snow emergency whenever an actual or expected snowfall will create hazardous street conditions; a fall of just one inch of snow is enough to trigger it. The declaration goes out as a press release to local print and electronic media and stays in force until the mayor announces, through the same media, that it is over. Under Sec. 40-382, the mayor designates the city's heavily traveled snow routes, which the city traffic engineer must review annually with a written report filed with the city clerk by July 1, and every snow route must be posted with signs and markers.

Once a snow emergency is declared, Sec. 40-384 bars parking on any street marked as a snow route for the full duration of the emergency. On streets that are not snow routes, parking is banned from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on an alternating schedule: on even-numbered days no parking is allowed on the east and south sides of the street, and on odd-numbered days no parking is allowed on the north and west sides. Pushing snow from private property onto a city street is separately prohibited.

Sec. 40-385 gives the police department authority to tow and impound any vehicle parked, stalled, or left unattended in violation of the article, and lets the mayor set any additional restrictions he deems necessary for public health and safety during the emergency.