Back to the drawing board: Committee can’t solve angle parking on cul-de-sacs
A city committee wants bureaucrats to go back to the drawing board when it comes to a solution for angle parking in Calgary’s 2,500 cul-de-sacs following five months of work.
After an overnight blitz last year in a Woodbine cul-de-sac saw about 25 vehicles slapped with $40 parking tickets, city councillors sought a solution for residents who’ve long angle parked on the roads in front of their homes.
In February, council approved a notice of motion, submitted by councillors Shane Keating, Peter Demong and Richard Pootmans, asking city administration to develop a process allowing residents to park nose-in on cul-de-sacs.
The city report found less than one per cent of Calgary cul-de-sacs are large enough to accommodate angle parking (because fire and garbage trucks need at least a 15-metre radius to turn around), and the document said warnings should be handed out to drivers before tickets.
The transportation committee discussed the findings for more than an hour Wednesday and decided more work is needed, ultimately voting in favour of referring the report back to city administration “to develop a process that would allow for residents to angle park in cul-de-sacs.”
Committee chair Shane Keating said that process could include something as simple as moving black, blue and green bins to a specific area for pickup.
“I was looking for a set of criteria that the residents in that cul-desac would agree to and then implement if they wanted to angle park. If they don’t agree to all of these specifics, then they don’t get angle parking,” he said. “People angle park and yet we’re scared to put in a process that makes it legit, and I don’t get that.”
Ward 8 Coun. Evan Woolley said the recommendations weren’t in the best interest of most citizens.
“I just don’t think (you) came back with some solutions that are going to work for the neighbours that have been doing this for years,” he told bureaucrats at Wednesday’s meeting.
“What you came back with is, the jerk on the street who wants to complain about their neighbour can go get their neighbour a ticket, and that’s not who we’re here to serve. We’re here to serve people in these cul-de-sacs who are parking in this fashion because it makes sense to them.”
Council will have the final say on if more work is needed to find a culde-sac angle parking solution.
Cul-de-sacs first started popping up in Calgary in the 1950s and for years citizens have parked nose-in without any issues.
“It’s convenient. It does seem to make sense …. People have been parking this way in the little village of the cul-de-sac for a long time. That influences how other people learn to park in that cul-de-sac as well,” said Andrew Bissett, leader of strategic planning for the city’s roads department.
Bissett said the issue of angle parking in cul-de-sacs has surfaced in many other cities, with many municipalities disallowing it and some even prohibiting street parking in cul-de-sacs altogether.
“The main concerns that are commented on are regarding emergency vehicle access and municipal service access,” he said.
Paula Magdich, a manager with waste and recycling at the city, said while recycling and garbage is currently picked up in Calgary cul-de-sacs, it’s not always easy operationally for drivers.
“We have managed to provide service. There have been challenges,” she said.