It could be back to the drawing board when it comes to angle parking in cul-de-sacs, after a Calgary city committee rejected a report from administration.
There are more than 2,500 cul-de-sacs in Calgary. It is illegal to park on an angle in a cul-de-sac, but many people still do it. The Alberta Traffic Act requires that vehicles instead be parked parallel to the curb.
The Calgary Parking Authority caused a firestorm earlier in the year, when it ticketed a number of vehicles in the southwest community of Woodbine for illegal angle parking.
Councillor Shane Keating asked for a report that would guide council on how to develop a process to allow people to petition for angled parking on their street.
The report, which was in front of the transportation and transit committee Wednesday, suggested angle parking be banned in smaller cul-de-sacs. There are different sizes in Calgary, ranging from a radius of 10.5 metres to 15 metres.
“Don’t tell me we can’t do it. Tell me how we can do it, then we’ll make a decision whether we should. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we got how we can do it, here. We got, ‘we can’t do it,’” Keating said, adding that he was looking for something more from administration.
“I was looking for a set of criteria that the residents in cul-de-sacs would agree to, and then implement, if they wanted to angle park. If they don’t agree to all those specifics, then they don’t get angle parking. That’s what I was looking for”
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City officials said Wednesday there are concerns with emergency vehicle access and waste and recycling collection.
Magditch did tell committee that on some streets, on collection day, residents will place their carts at the end of the street for easier pick-up.
Deputy fire chief Ken Uzeloc said response time has been impacted, on occasion, because of the practice of angle parking.
Councillor Evan Woolley said he believes a solution can be found, to deal with operational issues. He doesn’t like what administration was recommending.
“What you came back with was, ‘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”
The transportation and transit committee is recommending that council ask administration to re-examine angle parking, and how operational procedures could be adopted to accommodate it.
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