Hundreds of tickets issued in snow routes, despite warnings

CALGARY- There was lots of warning, but some Calgarians returned home on Wednesday to find a ticket on their windshield.

The City of Calgary declared a Snow Event that went into effect at 9 a.m., and started making sure people were aware of it on Tuesday morning. When a Snow Route Parking ban is in place, vehicles parked along designated snow routes must move their vehicles to allow snow-clearing equipment room to work.

Enforcement began at 9:30 a.m., and by 2 p.m. parking officers had issued 500 tickets city-wide.

Some offenders said they didn’t know a Snow Event was declared, or that they were parked along a snow route. While ignorance didn’t work as a good defence, some were let off the hook if their vehicle was impossible to move.

“If an officer observes an extreme weather situation—extensive drifting, that type of thing—they do have discretion to not issue a tag, ticket in that situation,” explained Miles Dyck from the Calgary Parking Authority.

Declaring the ban didn’t exactly go off without a hitch either: the roads department mistakenly called off the Snow Event on its free app on Wednesday morning, before reissuing it just seconds later.

“It was a mistake we made on our end, a bit of a technical glitch,” explains Carissa Vescio from the City Roads department. “The snow route parking ban is still on and will continue for the next couple of days.”

Those who were ticketed have the option to appeal their $75 ticket, which drops to $40 if paid within 10 days.

Snow Routes include major roadways, collector roads and most bus routes, and are marked by blue signs with a white snowflake.

A map and full list of Snow Route locations is available on Calgary.ca/snow.

Meantime, heavy accumulations of snow drifts have forced the closure of the following roads until further notice:

• Country Hills Blvd. between Metis Trail and Barlow Trail N.E.
• 36 St. N.E. between 80 Ave. and Country Hills Blvd.