Traffic and parking fines are on the rise in Sparwood as the District cracks down on motorists flouting local bylaws.
Council documents show 14 tickets totalling $1400 have been issued for traffic, parking and highway offences in the year to July, compared to 15 in 2017 and three in 2016.
These resulted from 103 investigations and followed 23 verbal warnings and 51 written warnings.
The spike in fines has been attributed to increased enforcement, with staff using violation tickets as a method to bring about higher compliance rates after public education, and verbal and written warning notices failed to correct motorists’ behaviour.
Bylaw Enforcement Officer Frank deBoon said the majority of fines were for vehicles parked along roadways and obstructing snow removal operations.
“This is an offence that can restrict visibility along roadways and has some safety concerns when windrows of snow are left on roadways, affecting traffic flow and width of available road surface,” he said.
“It also slows down snow removal and makes this task harder for operators.”
Other common violations include parking on roadways and impeding traffic movement, such as vehicles blocking a driving lane along Aspen Drive while “running into a business”, and parking in no parking areas or disabled zones without a permit.
“Snow clearing related offences are common throughout the District and other parking related offences are restricted to areas with no parking signs, yellow curbs or sites with handicap permit requirements,” said deBoon.
“These are areas of focus due to safety concerns and respect for other drivers and pedestrians.”
deBoon urged motorists to be conscious of snow clearing requirements and to obey signage and no parking areas.
“Many times vehicles are parked beside or in front of signs and compliance with these provisions will make life easier for people requiring handicap parking, District workers and other drivers and pedestrians,” he said.
“Walking a short distance to and from a legal parking site also has financial and health benefits.”
