Snow route parking ban in Calgary ends Wednesday

UPDATE: The snow route parking ban was lifted at 7 a.m. on Wednesday.

The snow route parking ban in Calgary will be lifted at 7 a.m. Wednesday, a full day ahead of schedule, city officials announced.

Full information on the ban can be found onthecity's website.

Questions can also be directed to 311.

The 72-hour ban came into effect at 9 a.m. Monday, meaning it was scheduled to last until the same time Thursday morning.

• Move your cars! Snow route parking ban takes effect Monday morning

As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, 2,274tickets had been issued to owners for failing to move vehicles from the routes marked by a blue sign with a snowflake.

The fine is $40 if paid within 10 days, $50 if paid within 30 days and $75 if paid after 30 days.

No vehicles have been towed, however.

"Typically towing will be reserved for safety issues, the safe operating of the plows or blocking traffic," roads director Troy McLeod told reporters Tuesday morning.

"The plows will do what they can, they'll go around the cars. Towing is certainly an option, depending on the circumstances."

Vehicles that have been ticketed still have to be moved.

"If it's still there, you could get another ticket on another day," said McLeod.

During snow route bans, Calgary Parking Authority offers free parking in its parkades and surface lots between 9 p.m. and 6a.m.

Some residents living on P2 streets weren't happy with the lack of vehicles being towed by the city and took to social media to express their displeasure.

The ban was called after 10 to 15 centimetres of snow fell on the city last weekend, causing commuter chaos and forcing police to take the unusual step of closing Deerfoot Trail completely for several hours to deal with several multi-vehicle pileups.

The last snow route parking ban was called in February 2017, when 2,759tickets were issued over a 60-hour period.

And with more snow in the forecast, another 72-hour ban could be called later this week.

"If we get a snow event again this week of the size we got on the weekend, we'll probably have to call another one, say Friday or Saturday," said McLeod.

About 70 pieces of equipment worked24 hours a day to clear the secondary routes.

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