New London — After a 10-hour blizzard that dumped 20 inches of snow on much of the region with drifts several feet high, New London and Stonington Borough now face the challenge of removing snow from their narrow streets.

Because many New London streets, especially those in and around the downtown, are narrow and lined with homes, businesses and sidewalks, there is little to no space to pile up snow. This means it has to be removed, instead of simply pushed to the side of the road, so cars can park and emergency vehicles can pass through.  

On Sunday, Mayor Michael Passero said the city is expecting to truck the the snow to Fort Trumbull and Ocean Beach Park. He estimated a complete cleanup of the city will take several days because of the need to use bucket loaders and dump trucks to remove the snow and truck it away. 

Passero said the city's fire, police and public works departments "worked extremely hard for the residents of New London throughout this protracted weather event." He said plow drivers began removing snow Friday evening and worked until early Sunday morning.

"We are asking people not to put the snow back in the road. We are also asking people to help locate fire hydrants and clear them out," Passero wrote in an email Sunday.

The parking ban downtown will remain in effect through Sunday night. Drivers are asked to be cautious in the coming days as pedestrians will be sharing the roads.

Stonington Borough, with its maze of narrow streets, faces a similar problem when it comes to removing snow.

On Sunday, Borough Warden Jeff Callahan said the first challenge in the village is to clear major streets such as Water, Main and Elm so vehicles can pass. Borough regulations ban parking on Water Street during and immediately after a storm, and Callahan said residents complied with that ban, making the plowing job a bit easier for the borough's two-person highway crew of Sue Cordeiro, now in her 41st year, and Phoenix Grimes.

Callahan said the duo began working at 8 p.m. Friday and did not go home until Sunday at noon. He said they brought food to the highway garage and took naps when needed. Callahan's wife made them cookies to snack on.

On Main and Elm streets, parking is allowed on odd days on the odd side of the street and vice versa so they can be cleared. On Sunday a few vehicles were on the wrong side and encased in snow, including a Ford Mustang with snow up to its windows on Main Street. The streets were clear, though.   

The narrow side streets were a different story as many cars were buried from the passes made by the borough plow, and residents were beginning to dig out.

Beginning Monday, Callahan said private contrators will help Cordeiro and Grimes remove the snow and truck it to Stonington Point, where it will be dumped. The strong winds during the storm swept the exposed Point almost clear of snow. Callahan said it is not possible to remove all the snow to the Point, so residents will have to dig out their cars. 

The piles that will soon rise at Stonington Point, Ocean Beach Park and Fort Trumbull may be short-lived as temperatures across in the region are forecast to reach the 40s with rain during the middle of this week.

j.wojtas@theday.com

j.vazquez@theday.com