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No easy fix for all parking problems

Langley Township is tackling the issue of parking in Willoughby, though a series of suggested measures met with a mixed review from local residents.

On June 23, the council received a staff report that said existing parking in some neighbourhoods of Willoughby was not being fully utilized.

A report by Creative Transportation Solutions, a consultant on traffic issues, found that during two surveys of street parking, there was still room in a number of places, notably the driveways of homes in the area.

"We were quite disappointed with the survey," said Ashish Kapoor, one of the group of neighbours from northeast Yorkson who have been asking for improved street parking since last year.

He said the CTS report was unreliable, and has too high a margin of error.

"The residents of the affected neighbourhood have provided you feedback for free," Kapoor said.

The neighbours were pleased with a couple of the recomendations in the report, including the possibility of time-limited parking in some areas, and more on and off street parking in the future.

Levy Manuel, another resident, criticized the survey for taking two samples, one between midnight to 3 a.m. on a weekday, and one on a Saturday afternoon.

Those are not high demand times for extra parking for guests or workmen coming to local homes. Those are the two main issues residents have, Manuel has emphasized, noting that the actual homeowners aren't having too much trouble with their own parking.

Transportation and engineering manager Paul Cordeiro told council that what the study found was that peak parking hours are actually overnight - more people are home at that time.

That was why one of the CTS surveys was conducted in the early morning hours.

Going to three-hour parking in some areas could be done, but it would entail extra enforcement costs for Township bylaw officers, Cordeiro said. It might also have an impact on some secondary suite residents who park on side streets.

While there are a lot of people parking on the streets, there isn't a lot of use of driveways, Cordeiro said.

The report calls for changes for future developments, including new Willoughby neighbourhoods like Smith and Latimer that haven't begun to develop yet.

Those areas would see roads designed to accommodate more parking and could see higher parking requirements.

For existing neighbourhoods, there is less that can be done, said Cordeiro.

"There's not a lot of options, because the roads are constructed, the lots are constructed," Cordeiro said.

There are also covenants in place to prevent townhouse owners from converting garages to other uses.

In a refrain familiar with residents of Cloverdale and Clayton Heights, Langley Coun. Charlie Fox blamed at least some of the problem on people who are using their garages for storage rather than their cars, pushing parking off onto the roads.

The residents of the Yorkson area, particularly north of 80th Avenue and east of 208th Street have been vocal about parking issues. They got a brief reprieve from council over the Christmas and New Year holidays when temporary parking was allowed along some routes.

However, they have a number of issues, including some roads in the area that are half-width because developers build roads as they add subdivisions. If one side of the street is developed while the other is empty, only about half the road is built.

There is also little to no transit in Willoughby. The neighbourhoods were designed to be more walkable and transit-oriented than many past Langley neighbourhoods, but TransLink has provided little bus service.



Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
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