Patience, tolerance and understanding needed this winter
Paul Power
The Telegram
These are some of the key words that have been used by city hall in the past few months when discussing how the public should deal with road and traffic conditions during this winter of heavy snowfalls.
For the most part people have followed these guidelines. Most of us have kept the difficulty of snow clearing and the lack of time between winter storms in mind before complaining or reprimanding city operations for poor road conditions. City council has made it clear that a sense of understanding of what is and what isn’t physically possible is needed as we muddle through one of the harshest winters in recent memory.
Unfortunately it seems this sense of understanding doesn’t work both ways.
A couple of weeks ago I ventured downtown to meet a few colleagues for lunch. As I approached the downtown area I knew finding a parking space was going to be a challenge due to the time of day and the decreased availability of spots due to narrowing roads. However, as luck would have it I did manage to secure a spot pretty close to my destination.
Because I have a disability I was also able to take advantage of a blue parking space that is designated for people who have an appropriate parking permit. I pulled into the space quite confidently and made sure my permit was displayed. And then the problems started.
I exited my vehicle and walked towards the curb towards the parking meter. There I encountered my first hurdle. The curb had been replaced by a large mound of snow that measured three feet high. I looked to the right and then to the left. There was no path cleared to gain access to the sidewalk or the out of reach parking meter. However, this didn’t stop me. With a sigh I began to scale the icy hill, carefully balancing my crutches on ice chunks and navigating my way down the other side of the hurdle. By the time I reached the meter I had managed to fill my shoes and pockets with enough snow to start my own ski slope. I also managed to entertain a number of curious onlookers with my agility and grace as I tumbled over the final drift of snow.
Despite my awkward scaling of the great white mountain, I managed to keep my dignity as I stood up alongside the meter and deposited my two loonies into the technically advanced digital parking meter. I triumphantly listened as the money clinked into the slot and then observed the digital screen to see how much time I had won. Obviously luck was not on my side because the time stood at a solid zero. After all the struggle to reach the meter - the darn thing was broken. I looked around to see if I could spy a meter attendant to let them know what had happened but no one was in sight. After a few valiant shakes of the meter I conceded and left to make my lunch date on time.
After about an hour I returned to the scene of the crime, and there waiting on my windshield was a parking ticket for an expired meter. I fumed at the yellow stub stuck underneath my windshield wiper. Despite my best efforts to abide by the rules of the parking meter god, I still left the situation with a ticket. There is no justice. Adding insult to injury was later that night I spied a news report detailing the mass malfunctioning of the parking meters downtown. A problem that was apparently “being addressed”.
Surely those monitoring the meters downtown could use some discretion in issuing tickets. Especially for those inaccessible parking meters designated for those who face particular accessibility issues.
I’m fortunate in the fact that I am pretty mobile in the winter months. However, this is not necessarily the case for those who may require the use of a wheelchair or those who may have increased difficulty navigating in the winter weather. A large blue parking space, a wheelchair parking permit and a mound of snow in front of a parking meter is, in my opinion, some pretty clear indicators of when discretion could be used when ticketing an “expired” parking meter. And let’s not forget the knowledge that the meters are malfunctioning. Although my guess is that ticketing quotas overshadowed all of these clues.
Accepting and understanding what is physically possible, as with council’s explanation of the quality of snow clearing, is definitely a key to making this winter a little more tolerable for all of us. However this understanding is a two-way street. And these days, here in St. John’s, it’s probably the only two-way street we have.
The Telegram
These are some of the key words that have been used by city hall in the past few months when discussing how the public should deal with road and traffic conditions during this winter of heavy snowfalls.
For the most part people have followed these guidelines. Most of us have kept the difficulty of snow clearing and the lack of time between winter storms in mind before complaining or reprimanding city operations for poor road conditions. City council has made it clear that a sense of understanding of what is and what isn’t physically possible is needed as we muddle through one of the harshest winters in recent memory.
Unfortunately it seems this sense of understanding doesn’t work both ways.
A couple of weeks ago I ventured downtown to meet a few colleagues for lunch. As I approached the downtown area I knew finding a parking space was going to be a challenge due to the time of day and the decreased availability of spots due to narrowing roads. However, as luck would have it I did manage to secure a spot pretty close to my destination.
Because I have a disability I was also able to take advantage of a blue parking space that is designated for people who have an appropriate parking permit. I pulled into the space quite confidently and made sure my permit was displayed. And then the problems started.
I exited my vehicle and walked towards the curb towards the parking meter. There I encountered my first hurdle. The curb had been replaced by a large mound of snow that measured three feet high. I looked to the right and then to the left. There was no path cleared to gain access to the sidewalk or the out of reach parking meter. However, this didn’t stop me. With a sigh I began to scale the icy hill, carefully balancing my crutches on ice chunks and navigating my way down the other side of the hurdle. By the time I reached the meter I had managed to fill my shoes and pockets with enough snow to start my own ski slope. I also managed to entertain a number of curious onlookers with my agility and grace as I tumbled over the final drift of snow.
Despite my awkward scaling of the great white mountain, I managed to keep my dignity as I stood up alongside the meter and deposited my two loonies into the technically advanced digital parking meter. I triumphantly listened as the money clinked into the slot and then observed the digital screen to see how much time I had won. Obviously luck was not on my side because the time stood at a solid zero. After all the struggle to reach the meter - the darn thing was broken. I looked around to see if I could spy a meter attendant to let them know what had happened but no one was in sight. After a few valiant shakes of the meter I conceded and left to make my lunch date on time.
After about an hour I returned to the scene of the crime, and there waiting on my windshield was a parking ticket for an expired meter. I fumed at the yellow stub stuck underneath my windshield wiper. Despite my best efforts to abide by the rules of the parking meter god, I still left the situation with a ticket. There is no justice. Adding insult to injury was later that night I spied a news report detailing the mass malfunctioning of the parking meters downtown. A problem that was apparently “being addressed”.
Surely those monitoring the meters downtown could use some discretion in issuing tickets. Especially for those inaccessible parking meters designated for those who face particular accessibility issues.
I’m fortunate in the fact that I am pretty mobile in the winter months. However, this is not necessarily the case for those who may require the use of a wheelchair or those who may have increased difficulty navigating in the winter weather. A large blue parking space, a wheelchair parking permit and a mound of snow in front of a parking meter is, in my opinion, some pretty clear indicators of when discretion could be used when ticketing an “expired” parking meter. And let’s not forget the knowledge that the meters are malfunctioning. Although my guess is that ticketing quotas overshadowed all of these clues.
Accepting and understanding what is physically possible, as with council’s explanation of the quality of snow clearing, is definitely a key to making this winter a little more tolerable for all of us. However this understanding is a two-way street. And these days, here in St. John’s, it’s probably the only two-way street we have.