Saint John drops blanket ban on overnight winter parking

The blanket ban on overnight winter parking in Saint John has been lifted by city council.

Motorists will now be able to leave their cars on the street year-round except during special snow-bans that will be declared during storms.

Tim O'Reilly, the city's traffic manager, told councillors the city-wide winter parking ban is not necessary.

"The majority of the winter we don't need people off the streets," said O'Reilly.

"We need people off the streets when we need to go snowplowing."

The overnight parking ban would normally go into effect on Dec. 1 and end on March 31.

O'Reilly said the ban has a long list of excluded streets because councillors and members of the public keep asking for exemptions.

"On-street parking is important to a lot of people in this city." he said.

The city's traffic bylaw will now include provisions for what is dubbed the "new" ban.

It allows traffic managers to declare temporary snow bans in the north, east and west sides of the city. A snow-ban bylaw is already in place for the central peninsula.

In all areas the ban will have to be declared no later than 3:45 p.m. It would then be in effect from midnight until 7 a.m.

I can't believe you're coming back with this.- Coun. Bill Farren

Although the bylaw amendment was approved unanimously, some councillors worry there will be problems.

Coun. Bill Farren said he is especially concerned car owners will ignore the special snow-bans and leave their cars on the street.

He sat on a previous council that originally approved the winter parking ban.

"I can't believe you're coming back with this," said Farren.

"We can clear the streets of snow quicker, we can salt them quicker, all the explanations that made sense."

Farren said he's received far fewer complaints about delays in clearing streets since the winter overnight parking ban was put in place.