Fredericton adopts parking restrictions along University Avenue

Careful where you park.

The City of Fredericton is changing the parking rules along University Avenue, where parking will be restricted much of the year on the west side of the street, nearthe Lady Beaverbrook Rink.

From September to April, on-street parking on the west side of University will not be allowed from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. Drivers who park there at those times will be ticketed.

The ban will be putinto effect in September.

The city made the changes after citizens expressed concerns in January and February about people using the street for all-day parking. Right now, about 30 to 40 vehicles park along University Avenue on a typical day.

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Deputy Mayor Kate Rogers, the councillor who represents the area, said that when the city first allowed parking along University Avenue, traffic slowed down and she received positive feedback.

Once the area became a hot spot for all-day parking, however, safety became a issue. Between snowbanks and the parked cars, the street was narrowed and visibility worsened. It was also difficult for emergency vehicles and buses to pass through.

'Too much going on'

"It was literally a wall of cars sometimes," Rogers said. "So you add walls of cars to walls of snowbanks, there was just too much going on."

She said there are also a lot of older homes in the area, and when repair work is needed, the workers have nowhere to park along the road.

Rogers said she expects traffic in that area to wind down once university students leave for the summer.

But the city is still concerned the parking ban will lead tomore parkingon side streets, because adjustments to parking in one area trigger issues in another.

"None of this neighbourhood is designed for parking on the streets for a long period of time," she said. "It's designed to have visitors parked for a couple of hours."

Rogers said the citywill address problems on side streets if they arise.

"Thoseside streets certainly aren't wide enough to be having full capacity all the time," she said. "We're being very mindful and see if this timed parking does that trick."