Emergency No Parking signs near your home or office usually signal upcoming road, tree or utility work. But sometimes rain makes it difficult to read the handwritten parking prohibitions. Plus, it’s unclear if some posted signs are valid and properly permitted. So why forfeit a perfectly good parking space because of bogus signage? Enter the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), which has decreed that all such signs posted in public space must now be printed electronically at the Public Space Permitting Center in southwest or a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) station. No more handwritten signs, which will be removed and the permit applicant possibly fined $25 per sign. Utilities responding to emergency gas or water leaks have immunity—if the signs include an Emergency Work Request number. If you’re looking to submit permit applications, check out DDOT’s Transportation Online Permitting System (TOPS). Also, residents can use the Public Space Permit Lookup Tool, or QR Codes now on Emergency No Parking and Reserve Parking signs, to retrieve information.
