Residents who ignore seasonal parking ban can expect fines but won't be towed, city says
CBC
As a seasonal parking ban comes into effect on Edmonton’s residential roads this week, one councillor is concerned about how the city’s failure to fund towing teams will play out on city streets.
On Monday, crews will begin working to clear slush and windrows off residential streets. Vehicles that are parked on the roadways will be ticketed — but won’t be towed.
And streets with too many parked, plowing may not be done at all, said Coun. Erin Rutherford, who represents Ward Anirniq.
“Some roads are going to look really messy because they're going to work around vehicles that don't move,” Rutherford told CBC.
“I think we're going to get a lot of feedback on that as a council and rightfully so. I think it was a misstep to not fund it.”
While council has funded towing in previous years, it’s not a regular practice in Edmonton, unlike other major cities including Calgary, Fort McMurray, Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa and Halifax.
Rutherford said she had considered making a motion to fund towing and increased snow clearing around bus stops during budget deliberations in early December. But because there were so many other motions on the floor, she decided not to.
She said the consequences will be seen in the results of the snow clearing operation.
“A lot of vehicles could get really boxed in, which I think is very consequential and will also make the clearing less effective,” she said. “And if there's too many cars on any given residential road, they're actually just going to skip the road.”
A city report says one-time increased enforcement funding was not renewed, meaning teams went from 15 officers and two clerks, to five officers and one clerk.
“Towing services were also limited due to capacity and later discontinued because there was no allocated budget,” the report reads.
During last winter’s enforcement season, the city gave out 2,248 tickets. In the spring, it gave out more than double that, at 5,863.
But city data also shows that only 52 per cent of surveyed residents were aware of last January’s parking ban, while only a third are subscribed to receive notifications on parking bans.
Council decided to hike the fine from $100 to $250 in 2022 as part of increased enforcement efforts. On Jan. 19, a council committee will look at rolling that back to $150.
Last year, Toronto had the fewest traffic-related deaths it’s recorded in a decade, just as a major road safety program has been removed from the city.
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