Winter parking ban tickets up, city looking at higher fines, more enforcement

The city of Edmonton is considering higher fines and more enforcement to send a stronger message to those who fail to obey winter parking bans.

More than 1,000 tickets were issued to Edmontonians who failed to move their vehicles during the ban which started at 11 p.m. Tuesday after the city was hit by 25 centimetres of snow. It ended at 5 p.m. Thursday.

"It's a bit of a challenge" said Troy Courtoreille, acting director of the city's complaints investigation section.

"If you look at compared to 2014, the first couple days of the snow ban, we're up by about 20 per cent in enforcement tickets issued."

Those who fail to comply cause problems for crews who are trying to get streets cleared as quickly as possible, Courtoreille said.

He doesn't know why Edmontonians aren't getting the message when it comes to parking bans.

"That's a good question. I think it's maybe just the first snowfall of the year."

Regardless of the reason, it's led the city to look at increasing enforcement and fines. Bylaw officers could work during the evening.

And fines higher than $50 may be in the cards for 2016, though Courtoreille couldn't say how much they might go up.

Crews have now cleared the major routes and the parking ban has ended.

However, there there are no plans to blade residential neighbourhoods, as the city's policy only allows for blading when there's at least five centimeters of snow on the roads.

"At this time it's just not required," said Roadway Maintenance Director Edward Sosa.