Clearing up rules on parking
Signs should be obeyed before removal takes place, Jason Magder writes.
Q: Is it legal to park when a street has been totally cleared but the orange no- parking signs are still up? The reason I ask is that the city has clarified that on the regular no- parking time on streets ( e. g. “no parking Monday 8 to 9”), you can be ticketed if you park during that time after the street cleaning crew has gone by. So can you park on a street with the temporary orange sign still up? Or could you be ticketed?
— Joe Mroz, NDG
A: Unlike street- cleaning signs, the city erects orange no- parking signs on a temporary basis, and only tows cars parked illegally when there is a snow- removal operation going on, city spokesman Philippe Sabourin said.
He said the city tolerates people parking after a snowremoval operation is completed, cognizant of the fact that it could take a few minutes from the time an operation is completed until the time city crews remove the orange signs. He said city crews are not out to try to make money by ticketing people who have parked in a spot that is legal until a snow operation is in progress.
“We tow 5,000 cars for every storm; we aren’t looking to tow more cars,” Sabourin said. “There is no problem with people park- ing their cars when it is clear that the snow- removal crews are not going to come back.”
While Sabourin said the city has no problem with people parking after an operation takes place, the city takes great pains to remind residents to pay attention to the signs and be sure they avoid parking before an operation has taken place. Towing cars makes the whole operation much longer, he said. Q: I have noticed in recent months that there are new lights indicating priority access for buses on Cavendish Blvd. in Nôtre- Dame- de- Grace. The only other place I have seen these lights are in bus lanes, like the new one on Sherbrooke St. W. Is there a plan to build a bus lane on Cavendish Blvd.?
— A reader
A: The STM’s Amélie Régis said there is a plan, at least on the books, to implement a reserved lane on Cavendish Blvd., but it will be up to local authorities to decide on its fate. Cavendish in that area spans the N. D. G. area, as well as Côte- St- Luc, so any decisions on the lane will have to be made by consensus between the cities. Côte- de- Neiges– Notre-Dame-de- Grâce spokesman Étienne Brunet said at this point, there are no immediate plans to build a reserved lane for buses on Cavendish. He said the borough will wait to see what impact the new lane on Sherbrooke St. W. has had before making any other decisions on reserved lanes. As for the traffic lights, he said they may have been installed as part of the city ’s harmonization project for all major intersections. If they aren’t used by buses now, they may be in the future, to make some bus travel faster, even without a reserved lane.
Squeaky Wheels update: To Nov. 16 ( problem with cars cutting over solid lines on the TransCanada service road at the entrance from Côte Vertu Blvd. to get onto the highway. St- Laurent spokesman Paul Lanctôt had promised more surveillance). Q: I haven’t noticed any extra rush- hour surveillance nor improvement in the area mentioned. Generally the flow is good, but whenever there is adverse weather, rain, snow, etc., it jams up quickly. I did, however, observe last week ( Wednesday at around 5: 15 p. m. I think), both an STM bus ( 72) and a Montreal police car both blocking traffic and crossing over the solid white lines dividing the right- most lanes for access to Cote- Vertu.
— Jim Dumont, St- Laurent
A: Paul Lanctôt, St- Laurent spokesman, said he would contact the director of SPVM Station 7.