Concerns were raised at the Warfield Council meeting Monday night that are sure to be echoed at similar meetings throughout the Greater Trail area as winter approaches: snow removal on narrow neighbourhood streets that are frequently used by residents as additional parking spaces.
Similar to many communities that were planned and built in the early decades of the 20th Century, many of Warfield’s neighbourhoods were designed when most households would only own a single vehicle and a one-car driveway on most lots would suffice.
Now, at a time when many families have two or more vehicles on the road as well as recreational vehicles in some cases, streets can become crowded with cars and trucks, making snow removal a challenge. The village has found a partial solution by designating many neighbourhood streets as allowing parking on one side only.
“Our parking bylaws are from the 70’s when this wasn’t as much of an issue,” said Warfield Mayor, Bert Crockett. “But now some of the signs may be missing and people may not even know where they’re allowed to park.”
Council acknowledged the changes over time but still agreed that the issue needs to be addressed.
“In a lot of places we have vehicles parked on both sides of the streets and some of them are large pickup trucks that weren’t so common in the past,” said Coun. Jim Nelson. “The parking on one side only needs to be enforced before serious snowfall hits, particularly on bus routes.”
Council discussed looking into increased signage on designated streets and making bylaw enforcement more prominent to remind residents to keep vehicles off the roads whenever possible.
