Walsh wants steeper snow fines

You thought the Big Dig was expensive? Try the “Snow Dig.”

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh wants quintuple the fine property owners pay for not shoveling snow from their sidewalks to $1,500. That’s five times – yep, five times, the current $300 fine.

Walsh has field a home rule petition, which needs approval of the city council, state legislature and governor, to raise the cap on snow infractions. His petition would also add the unpaid fines to property tax bills if they go unpaid.

Boston has been buried under nearly eight feet of snow within the last month. The city’s current regulations require property owners to remove snow from sidewalks and curb ramps abutting their properties within three hours of the snowfall ending or three hours from sunrise if the snow is overnight. They’re supposed to clear a path 42 inches wide.

Not so easy when there’s 8 feet of snow on either side of you.

Walsh has also been imploring locals to not dump their snow in the streets this winter.

“Illegally dumping snow onto public roads severely worsens an already challenging snow removal process,” Walsh said in a statement. “It’s a problem for every pedestrian, but it is especially difficult for our children, for the disabled, and for the elderly to face deep, unshoveled sidewalks, and be forced to walk in the road,” said Walsh through a statement.

He said the larger fines would help the city recoup some of the costs involved in clearing snow that property owners should have been shoveling.