In the interest of safety, Irricana Town council discussed the possibility of amending its Traffic Bylaw to add parking restrictions to entrances of parks at its Aug. 15 council meeting.
Interim Chief Administrative Officer Dawn Mosondz said under the current traffic bylaw, there is nothing restricting parking at park entrances.
With the construction of Lions Centennial Park – which has an entrance in the middle of one of Irricana’s busiest streets – Mosondz recommended the bylaw be amended to restrict parking within five metres of park entrances to increase visibility for pedestrians and motorists.
“There’s a safety issue with visibility of individuals and children entering and exiting the park,” Mosondz said.
Councillor Kim Schmaltz said the amendment made “common sense.”
Doing so, he said, could avoid any incident that might occur if a child ran out between two parked cars.
“I think it’s a no-brainer,” Schmaltz said.
Mayor Dennis Tracz said he agreed with the amendment for safety reasons, however as the discussion largely focused on Lions Centennial Park, he said more information was needed to determine if the restriction would work for all of the town’s parks.
“In some parks, something like this might not make sense,” Tracz said. “I support it, I just don’t think we have all the information here.”
An alternative recommendation put forward by administration was to implement a no parking restriction at certain times throughout the day.
Mosondz argued it would be better to find a solution that worked for every park in Irricana, so when a new park is constructed council would not have to change the bylaw to apply parking restrictions.
“You want to make sure this is as encompassing as possible,” she said.
Council agreed to table to motion, but requested Mosondz bring the item back to the Sept. 6 regular council meeting with recommendations for each park, along with cost information.
