Boston's slowly coming back to life with a Bruins game, school Wednesday morning, and an end date to the parking ban after virtually shutting down for two days as a third snow storm in 17 days impacted the region.
Mayor Marty Walsh says the city's snow emergency and parking ban will be lifted at 5 p.m. Wednesday to give clean up crews more time to remove snow and the city's transit system will operate on a limited schedule. Boston's public schools and libraries will also reopen on Wednesday.
Already eight snow days this winter, and time for 8-year-old Jesmine Vieira, whose favorite class is math, to get back to second grade along with students throughout the city.
"I like staying home, of course. But I actually want to go to school tomorrow," said Janelin Pineyro, 15, a student at Boston Arts Academy.
Students will now go to school on Evacuation Day and Bunker Hill Day, and are up against a June 30 dismissal date.
"I'll welcome a 6 inch storm at this point," Walsh said in his Tuesday afternoon press conference.
With many parking lots jammed through the city, and with no subways or commuter rail running Tuesday, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh joined the Bruins in offering free parking and shuttles for thousands from the Convention Center to Causeway Street for the 7 p.m. puck drop.
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"There's a lot of snow. So, what are you going to do?" said Bruins fan Evan Kelly of Braintree.
"I think it's great, I think it's great, they should do it all the time. Keep the cars out of Boston. Keep them over here. Why not?" said his father, Tom Kelly.
It saved the Kellys of Braintree $42 on parking. No such deal with the city snow budget.
The city, which had budgeted an estimated $18.5 million, has spent around $30 million so far this winter on snow removal, according to Walsh, adding that city workers are melting 430 tons of snow per hour. The city is hoping for federal funding.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker stressed that he doesn't have direct authority over the MBTA after it cancelled rail service for all day Tuesday, adding that his administration and transit officials need to work with and hear from each other during severe weather events.
In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Baker said he will be meeting with T officials on Thursday. His briefing with the media followed MBTA GM Beverly Scott's fiery press conference earlier that morning, where she said she was unsure when full service will be restored.
Baker also said that about 500 members of the Massachusetts National Guard are being activated to help deal with the aftermath of the record-setting snowfall over the past two weeks. He said about 200 of the guard members will fan out across eastern Massachusetts in teams of four to help local communities dig out hydrants and other critical assets.
The remaining guard members will operate heavy machinery to assist in snow removal across the hardest hit areas of the state.
Baker has also asked neighboring states for help. He said Vermont is sending down a dozen pieces of heavy equipment and New York and Pennsylvania have also responded.
State officials also say they're planning on asking the federal government for disaster assistance in relation to the Jan. 26 blizzard that battered Massachusetts.
Monday's snow storm the third significant one within the last two weeks, bringing the total to six to seven feet of snow across the Bay State.
