UPDATE: On June 18, city administration recommended pausing changes to the residential parking program. Residents in Belgravia, Belvedere, Boyle Street, Central MacDougall, Century Park, Commonwealth Stadium, Garneau, Glengarry, Groat Estates, McKernan, NAIT, Northlands, Oliver, Parkallen, Rossdale, Royal Gardens, South Belgravia, Southgate and Windsor Park are asked to continue displaying their old residential parking permits. Council confirmed the pause on July 3.
Several popular Edmonton neighbourhoods will no longer have street parking set aside for residents. City councillors decided Tuesday that 15 areas — including Belgravia, Century Park, Holyrood, McKernan, Northlands and Southgate — won’t have free parking permits and those zones will be open to anyone to park in.
Several other areas — including Garneau and Commonwealth — will have their residential parking permit zone reduced in size.
The changes will start rolling out in June. Current residential parking permits expire at the end of May.
“With a new residential parking program, those 15 neighbourhoods that are being removed, all the signs are being removed, so it would be open parking for visitors, residents to park,” explained Jenny Albers, with the city’s Planning, Permitting and Traffic Operations department.
The current parking program has been around since the 1970s and was often not based on parking demand, she said.
“A lot of the existing residential parking programs were created without a clear analysis of actual parking demand and traffic generation,” Coun. Ashley Salvador added. “So, by removing those (zones), it’s really about taking a more equitable and fair approach to our curb-side parking space.”
The city’s new criteria offers residential parking permits for high-traffic areas; communities near so-called “traffic generators.”
The city said some parking zones were removed or reduced because they’re not near a traffic generator or a portion of the area is outside the “traffic generator” radius.
Traffic generators are listed as:
- Post-secondary institutions (with a minimum of 5,000 students, in a residential (not commercial) area with limited private parking options)
- Major event venues (with a minimum capacity of 10,000 people and year-round events, with limited private parking options and no Park & Ride)
- Active LRT stations with adjoining transit centres (that don’t have public or private Park & Ride on-site)
Coun. Anne Stevenson says removing or reducing residential parking zones will make communities more accessible.
“Other users who don’t have those permits will be able to park in the area for two hours at a time, so that creates more availability for others in the area, folks who maybe have guests coming over for dinner, have home care, that provides a lot more flexibility, and I think helps address some of the challenges the program presents.”
And residents who still have street parking concerns have options, Stevenson pointed out.
“For people who have a garage, let’s say, that they’re currently using for storage, they could clean that out and have that available for parking.”
Residents who would still like designated residential parking can pay for a $120 annual permit.
“For those residential parking programs that are remaining, there will be a fee introduced,” Stevenson said. “We are making provision for people with lower income so they can apply for a reduced fee or potentially no fee at all if it relates to accessibly, for example.”
Areas that will see their residential parking permit program REMOVED:
Belgravia
Belvedere
Boyle Street
Central McDougall
Century Park
Glengarry
Groat Estates
Holyrood
McKernan
Northlands
Oliver
Parkallen
Rossdale
Royal Gardens
Southgate
Areas that will see their residential parking permit program REDUCED:
Commonwealth Stadium (reduced by about 30 per cent)
Garneau (reduced by about 15 per cent)
NAIT (reduced by about eight per cent)
Windsor Park (reduced by about eight per cent)