On May 3, 2016 a City Notice was sent to homes along Silurian Drive notifying residents of upcoming changes to on-street parking. Specifically, the notice was in response to a resident concerned about the ability for emergency vehicles, buses and waste collection vehicles to access the street when vehicles are parked on both sides. I investigated this for myself on Friday May 6th and followed up with staff for a more thorough explanation (See staff responses below).
While it is difficult to argue with the study findings, I acknowledge that changes to parking allowances are never easy. As such, I also requested staff provide further comment on options for residents (including expanding driveways and curb cuts) to help mitigate disturbance on the street and support more off-street parking.
I’d like to thank staff for their professionalism in investigating this concern and their willingness to work with residents further during implementation. As always, please contact me directly should you have any questions or concerns.
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Councillor Gibson,
(In response to your inquires)
Recently, a notice letter was sent to residents of Silurian Drive advising of the City’s intent to remove on-street parking on just one side of Silurian Drive. The notice indicated that on-street parking would be removed on just the west side of the street between Chesterton Lane and Grange Road, and the east side between Grange Road and Starwood Drive. This would leave permissive on-street parking on one side of the entire length of Silurian Drive.
Staff’s recommendation to remove on-street parking was in response to a request from a resident of the street for staff to evaluate whether parking should be permitted on both sides of the street. Under the current Council approved On-street Parking Changes Safety Requests policy, on-street parking is to be removed on both sides of any roadway after a complaint or request to do so is received when the width of the roadway is 8.4m or less. Silurian Drive is 8.0m wide, and working within the Council approved policy, would have on-street parking removed on both sides. That said, staff reviewed and determined that a scaled-back approach should be taken, resulting in the removal of on-street parking on just one side of the street. This would leave some on-street parking for use by local residents and their guests. Staff reviewed the number of legal on-street parking opportunities (or spaces) on the street, and tailored the proposal to minimize the number of removed legal on-street spaces.
(In response to your inquiry about options for expanding driveways in order to facilitate more off-street parking for residents)
The City’s Building Services Department would be able to comment further on the process for a residential curb cut widening (driveway widening). I have noted the reference below on our website that may be able to assist anyone who wishes to inquire about widening their driveway.
Regards,
Allister McILveen | Manager of Transportation Services
Engineering and Capital Infrastructure Services | Infrastructure, Development & Enterprise
City of Guelph
T 519-822-1260 x 2275 | F 519-822-1751
E [email protected]