Parking restrictions in place as city begins spring cleaning
As Calgary begins its annual spring road cleanup, residents are reminded to follow parking bans to avoid being ticketed.
A total of 30 street-sweepers will be out seven days a week, with the program expected to last until mid- to late-June.
Bill Biensch, manager of roads maintenance, said due to the lengthy winter, the city has a lot of sanding material and other debris on the roads to clean up. This has been the latest start to the streetsweeping program for a number of years, he said. Typically, the program launches at the beginning of April.
The street-sweeping schedule is online at calgary.ca/sweep and will be updated daily.
Biensch said street signs will be posted in neighbourhoods advising residents when crews are coming to the area and when cars must be moved off roads.
“On those days, please do not have vehicles parked on the streets,” he said.
“If it is garbage day, we ask them to not put the garbage containers on the road.
“We ask them to either put them on the boulevard or on the sidewalk, so we can still sweep the streets.”
Joan Hay, manager of enforcement services for the Calgary Parking Authority, said tickets for not removing vehicles during street cleaning are $120, but if they are paid within 10 days, the amount is $80, or $90 if the fine is paid within 30 days.
“For this operation, we mainly do short towing, so we’ll just tow vehicles around the corner to a location that’s close by,” said Hay.
“We hope that Calgarians will act accordingly by moving their vehicles, but if they don’t then we will be ticketing and towing.”
The parking authority will use a combination of enforcement officers and photo enforcement during street sweeping. Signs will be posted at least 12 hours in advance of street sweeping.
If they don’t then we will be ticketing and towing.