Winter parking regulations begin December 1 across the City of Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — As the snow falls, the City of Milwaukee is moving into winter mode.

Winter parking regulations go into effect on Monday, Dec.1, through March 1.

Many residential roads will change to one-side or alternate-side parking, and there is no overnight parking on through-highways or bus routes.

If the city declares a snow emergency, everyone must follow alternate side parking until it's lifted.

If you don't follow the rules, you could be ticketed and/or towed.

"It's kind of hard not to get a ticket at this point," said Abel Jacinto, who lives on Milwaukee's south side. "This is very limited space for parking."

His street requires one-side parking in the winter, so he will join thousands of Milwaukeeans changing their parking habits for the next three months.

The Department of Public Works calls the seasonal regulations "necessary" to keep Milwaukee moving.

"If a street's too narrow and if one car doesn't move, a plow might not fit down that road," explained Peter Knox, city's parking services manager. "The biggest thing is the more we work together on that, it makes it quicker for the plows to get through. They cover more area then."

Tickets for not following winter parking regulations range from $50 to $150.

Last winter, the city issued more than 30,066 tickets due to improper parking.

During the most recent snow emergency this past February, 2,752 tickets were issued in just two days.

Last month, DPW said they're planning to ramp up parking enforcement for 2026, expecting to issue 65,000 more citations than projected for 2025.

 "You find out the hard way," Jacinto said. "Once you get a ticket, you're like, oh yeah."

While ticketing beefs up the city's transportation fund, Knox said the effort is not about quotas - it's about safety.

"Last year, we had situations where the streets weren't getting cleared during snow emergencies," he explained. "We're ramping up our efforts more to get compliance so we can service the citizens as we need to."

He hopes spreading the word will remind people how crucial it is to pay attention to the rule changes.

"Be a good neighbor. Let's all work together so we can have a good winter and have the streets plowed," Knox said.

Different roads have different regulations in the winter. Milwaukee DPW's website has a breakdown of the rules per street.

They are also encouraging Milwaukee residents to sign up for text alerts for snow emergencies.

Click here to learn more.