Solution proposed to allow for angle parking in Calgary cul-de-sacs

There may be a solution to the controversy of angle parking in cul-de-sacs in Calgary.

City hall’s transportation committee is recommending a system where if a petition gains 80 per cent support, people living in a cul-de-sac can apply to have an assessment done to see if their street qualifies for angle parking.

“We know there has to be an assessment, there has to be a fee, so let’s look at it and see if there is the possibility of doing it.” Councillor Shane Keating, chair of the committee, said.

“I think what we’re trying to do is give people the legitimacy of what they’re already doing of angle parking but just give them the option of making it absolutely legal.”

READ MORE: Little-known Calgary parking bylaw surprises cul-de-sac homeowners

Andrew Bissett, in strategic services with Calgary roads, says there would have to be criteria met when it came to emergency vehicles and collection of the blue, green and black carts.

“We’d ensure there’s minimum emergency access of at least six metres to be maintained. Where waste collection occurs in the cul-de-sac, an alternate collection area would be determined.”

At the committee, it was said a fee to have an assessment done and then the signage and markings installed would cost the neighbourhood approximately $2,300.

Under the Alberta Traffic Act, vehicles are required to be parked parallel to the curb, however many people living on one of Calgary’s more than 2,500 cul-de-sacs park at an angle and have done so for years, if not decades.

It was early in 2017 that the Calgary Parking Authority caused a firestorm when, acting on a complaint, it ticketed a number of vehicles in the southwest community of Woodbine for illegal angle parking.

In 2017, there were 249 calls about illegal parking with 72 tickets issued.

READ MORE: Calgary councillors are not happy with report on cul-de-sac parking

As part of the plan going to city council, the Calgary Parking Authority is proposing a six-month pilot project where warnings would be issued for first time angle-parking violations instead of tickets. Along with the warning would come an education and awareness campaign that the practice is illegal and what residents can do to try to get the practice allowed.

Keating said not all cul-de-sacs would qualify.

“They are either way too small, they’re all front driveway, you can’t allow angle parking. I’ve seen where you would have two cars in the driveway and a car right behind them which causes problems for all of the neighbours.”

Jyoti Gondek, who was not on city council when the controversy erupted about cul-de-sac parking, is having a hard time wondering why this is an issue and said she worries how much time the city will spend on assessing city streets.

“For me, when I know how much work council has in front of them and even more than that how much work administration has to do within transportation and transit, having requests come in to see if we can accommodate angle parking in a cul-de-sac seems like a giant waste of time.”

The matter goes to the full city council in late May.