Once again, some drivers are learning the hard way about Chicago’s winter night parking ban

CHICAGO (CBS) — It was a rude awakening Monday for hundreds of Chicagoans whose cars were towed overnight — as an enforcement measure The city’s winter overnight parking ban went into effect.

The ban typically goes into effect quickly and automatically when the clock strikes 3 a.m. on Dec. 1 — as cars parked on Chicago’s 107 miles of major streets will be towed. In a gesture unprecedented this year, the city did not put the ban into effect on Dec. 1 because Sunday was part of Thanksgiving weekend — and instead posted warning fliers on cars.

But when early Monday morning came, the tow trucks were ready to tow the cars to the shelter. According to the city, 244 cars were towed on the night from Sunday to Monday.

One of these cars belonged to Connor Wheeler.

“I went to the gym, went to work out, had my bag in my hand – and then my car was gone,” Wheeler said.

Another belonged to Keileh Callahan, who recently moved to town.

“I’m a teacher and I had to get up really early and my car was towed,” Callahan said.

The purpose of the ban, which resulted in Wheeler and Callahan’s cars being parked on city property at 701 N. Sacramento Blvd. were confiscated. The Humboldt Park District is designed to ensure that snow plows, CTA buses and emergency vehicles can move freely on the city’s busiest streets if snow falls.

“I’ve been living here for three months, so I had no idea,” Callahan said. “I learned my lesson.”

Contrary to what some have posted on social media, this ban does not affect all of Chicago’s major streets – in fact, it does not affect many overall. But there are signs posted where the ban applies, and drivers are still surprised every year.

Chicago streets affected include portions, but not necessarily all, of Foster Avenue, Division Street, Madison Street, Midway Plaisance, 79th Street, 103rd Street, Milwaukee Avenue, Archer Avenue, Central Avenue, Kedzie Avenue, State Street, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Cottage Grove Avenue. The areas of Clark Street and Devon Avenue are also part of the ban, but only in Rogers Park, and a half-mile of Cermak Road in the South Loop is affected.

Parts of other Chicago streets are also affected. The city has a map.

Anyone who parked on these streets overnight Sunday into Monday woke up to find their car gone – either to the parking lot on Sacramento Boulevard or to the one at 10301 S. Doty Ave.

“Kind of a burden on me,” Wheeler said, “and now I have to figure this out, and God knows how long that’s going to take.”

Friends Mohit Aggarwal and Avi Oberi’s cars were towed away.

““It was very difficult,” Aggarwal said. “I’ve been trying to get my car since this morning.”

Aggarwal and Oberi both spent money on rideshares and drove from parking lot to parking lot to find their vehicles.

“We stand in line for about half an hour to 45 minutes, and then when we got to the counter they said, ‘Your car isn’t here – you have to go somewhere else,'” Oberi said.

The tractor isn’t cheap either. The owners of the towed cars were assessed a $60 traffic ticket, a $150 towing fee and a $25 per day storage fee.

“I have to do more tutoring to get the money back,” Callahan said.

The misfortune of these drivers serves as a reminder that the winter parking ban is in effect from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. until April 1, regardless of whether there is snow on the ground.