The City of Calgary has declared war on residents who park their vehicles on streets designated with the brand new SNOW ROUTE signs. You can now look forward to the thought of having your car towed away moments after the City of Calgary declaring a SNOW EVENT any given winter’s day. (You should know that on-street handicap zones located along snow routes will be exempt from the 72 hour parking ban at all times).
The archaic Snow Route Parking Bans will go into effect immediately each and every Calgarian with an operators permit will in all likelihood fall victim to this insidious scheme at some point in future.
I am advised by the City of Calgary that they will announce a press release 24 hours prior to any impending Snow Route Parking Ban. Assuming that you do listen to the radio, watch the nightly news, or read the newspaper, chances are you’ll probably stand about a 10% chance of hearing the advance Snow Route Parking Ban warning announcement.
If you do miss it altogether, not to worry, you just might catch the actual announcement one way or other at which time The Snow Route Parking Ban will go into effect IMMEDIATELY!
If you are one of the unfortunate folks who misses the Snow Route Parking Ban announcement altogether, don’t worry, there are options. For example if you are a shift worker and were fast asleep, or at a funeral, at an important meeting or were on holidays, and your car gets towed under Section 3(1)k of the City of Calgary Parking Bylaw, because you simply could not stay abreast of the Snow Route Parking Ban status at all times, there are solutions.
- 1) Pay your Parking Ticket – $36.00 if paid within 7 days
- 2) Pay your Towing Fee $75.00 + $2.10 Km after 5 KM’s Minimum
- 3) Pay your Cab Fare $40.00
- 4) Pay your impound Fee $75.00 + $24.00 per day storage Minimum
- 5) Pay the administration Fee – $18.00
- 6) Pay the GST
All in all, aside from having to find a cab which will in all likelihood be one of the most miserable and coldest days of the year, you can easily make your restitution for the paltry minimum sum of about $256.00 not to mention your minor aggravation.
Residents who live or work along the City of Calgary Snow Routes will no longer have their vehicles frozen in for the winter after a plow has entrapped it in a slushy frozen ice cake mess. Instead the white stuff will be heaped up onto the sidewalk, where they had best remove it immediately or face another violation ticket.
The problem the City of Calgary Snow Route Parking Ban Plan is that a great many Calgarians won’t even know if and when a Snow Route Parking Ban has been declared.
What makes this scheme even more perfidious is that since the Snow Route Plan is only enforced on the rarest of occasions, citizens will become all but oblivious to those all too common signs posted just about everywhere.
The map below is a graphical representation provided by the City of Calgary which depicts the extent of our city’s newest roadside dis-ease.
The problem with the Calgary Snow Route Parking Plan is that all cars must be removed immediately following an announcement. Residents are expected to constantly monitor their iPhones, email accounts, televisions and radios, to know exactly when they need to evacuate their vehicles.
I’d like to suggest that the city install air horns at intervals throughout the city, of not less than 10 city blocks, in every community. This would give all residents fair warning when a Snow Parking Ban has been implemented. Then no one could really suggest that the parking ban is just another tax grabbing scheme implemented by our current City Council.
Other communities are also affected, even if they are not on the Snow Route. They will also need to be notified since they will be migrating at all times into the affected areas. Unfortunately, if you are on vacation or just out of town for a day or two, you’ll find yourself in a bad position upon your return.
I’m very happy that our elected officials are looking out for our best interests and trying to make our city a better place in which to live. Sometimes we just need to “suck it up” and face the music.
For the rest of you, I expect the City of Calgary Snow Route Parking Ban Plan will only serve to infuriate you, and hit you where it hurts at the worst possible time.
