(Staff photo)
Dozens of vehicles were towed in Saint John this week during a pair of overnight parking bans.
It is nothing new for the city, which struggles to get all vehicles moved so crews can clear the snow.
A total of 82 vehicles were towed and 140 tickets were issued during the bans Sunday and Monday night.
“To be honest, we always wish it were better,” said Michael Hugenholtz, the city’s transportation commissioner, about the compliance rate with parking bans.
“We wish we weren’t in a position to issue any tickets or tow any vehicles, but unfortunately, not everybody gets the message or not everybody does comply with those parking bans.”
Hugenholtz is at a loss as to why people do not comply with the bans, but he said the city places a big focus on notifying residents when one is issued.
“We have our snow ban line which is always up to date, we do run radio announcements regularly, we’ll post notifications to the city’s website as well as all our social media accounts,” said Hugenholtz.
Saint John has two different overnight parking bans: one for the north, east and west areas of the city, the other for the south/central peninsula.
The north/east/west ban is typically declared during a storm or just after, while the south/central peninsula ban is normally issued the following night, said Hugenholtz.
He said staff consider several criteria when deciding whether or not to issue a parking ban.
“We check what the conditions are currently, how much snow is on the ground, what are the temperatures, we look at what’s coming down the road too and make the determination if we need to call a parking ban,” said Hugenholtz.
According to the city’s website, temporary parking bans allow plow crews to push snow back to the curb to maintain access through all streets, especially narrow ones.
But Hugenholtz said that is hard to do when vehicles are left on the streets.
“When there are cars there, we have to plow around it. That leaves a big windrow around those vehicles, and really, the impact is on all the people that drive on those streets,” he said.
Hugenholtz said “limited enforcement capacity” prevents crews from moving every vehicle left on the streets. While staff with the Saint John Parking Commission can issue tickets, he said only police can have a vehicle towed.
Keeping the streets cleared, said Hugenholtz said, is a shared responsibility between the city and its residents.
“We can’t unilaterally get the streets plowed and cleared. We do rely on the cooperation of citizens and one of those ways is by moving their car when we do declare those parking bans,” he said. “We need to all work together.”
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