A request to reduce the hours of the city's overnight parking ban during winter months would cause delays and potential safety hazards, says a report headed to the operations committee Oct. 21.
In March, Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc asked for the report, arguing that since all snow removal doesn't happen overnight, reducing the ban from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., rather than midnight to 7 a.m. wouldn't have a big impact on snow removal, and would reduce impaired driving for people downtown.
Currently in effect from Dec. 1 until the end of March, the ban is enforced across the city through $75 tickets, and the possibility your vehicle will be towed to make room for plows. Commercial vehicles and trailers are banned from parking from 9 p.m. until midnight.
In North Bay, the ban runs from 3-6:30 a.m. downtown, with different limits for dead end streets (3-8:30 a.m.) and for all other roads from 3-7 a.m. Timmins has one that runs 11:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m., while the Sault's runs from midnight to 6 a.m.
But the report says the current overnight ban coincides with the start of the night shift for plow drivers. This year, the report says the city is using a new model to enhance snow removal, and “the success of the model is largely contingent on the existing overnight parking ban.”
“During the winter months, the night shift operators are often utilized to perform snow cleanup operations (or general callout plowing operations) in busy/narrow areas such as the Downtown Sudbury, Old Hospital area, Donovan, Flour Mill, West End, Minnow Lake (i.e. Hillside), Garson (i.e. Ravina Gardens), New Sudbury (i.e. Beatrice Cr.) etc.,” the report says.
If there are cars on any of those streets with a reduced ban, plow drivers are forced to skip them and try again later.
“This may mean that a snow plow may not return to the ‘skipped street’ until after the 24-hour limit outlined in the city’s winter maintenance standard for class 4-6 roadways,” the report says. “This approach may expose the city to additional risk.”
The skipped streets may see more packed or ice chunks by the time the plow is able to return, meaning plowing will take longer and reaching the maintenance standard will take longer.
“This may result in additional cost being incurred by the city and moving resources away from other areas of the city’s road network,” the report says.
As snowbanks grow, the report says it takes five nights to clear snow downtown, ensuring banks aren't reducing the width of the roads, and snowbanks don't get so high they become a hazard.
“Crews take advantage of the midnight to 7 a.m. overnight parking ban to complete this operation in a timely fashion,” the report says. “The time and cost to clear the downtown will increase if the overnight parking ban is reduced from seven hours (midnight to 7:00 am) to 4 hours (2:00 am to 6:00 am).”
