Parking solutions needed for growing Preston Street
September 17, 2015
As new transit lines and construction change Preston Street’s look and feel, the opportunities for people to actually stop and enjoy the area are dwindling. Parking, of all things, has become a major issue, and it only seems to be getting worse as more people are visiting the area.
Most of the new developments have been met with little opposition by area residents, but many worry about the effect they will have on the neighbourhood’s most frustrating problem. People arrive in the Preston Street area mostly by car, and many are already experiencing difficulties in finding a spot. New buildings will likely bring more vehicles to an already congested area, even if they’re being built near public transit hubs like Carling station. Lori Mellor, the executive director of the Preston Street Business Improvement Association, told the Ottawa Citizen that these developments are “just going to exacerbate the problem… Luxury condo dwellers are not taking the bus.”
The incoming condo population boom has been exacerbated by developers who file zoning requests to reduce the number of visitor parking stalls, which is an effort to save space. Less visitor parking requires more street parking in the area, and this is an issue residents believe may hurt local businesses.
Thankfully, the City has a few projects in place that could alleviate many of Preston Street’s parking woes, including a parking garage and additional bike racks. Private parking companies may also be allowed to put up signs on public property that direct drivers to their lots, and Ottawa’s in the process of reducing short- and long-term parking fees at the municipal lots. But residents and businesses worry this may not be enough, and that it’s time the condo developers attracting more people to the area contribute to solving the problem.
“It seems to me that as we start to eliminate the amount of required visitor parking by the hundreds, we’re going to end up building parking garages for what should have been visitor parking,” Councillor Catherine McKenney told a recent transportation committee. “I would rather make sure that [visitor parking] is in place in new developments before we move to build a new structure.”
Photos by: Wikimedia Commons, Preston Street
About Zachary Edwards
Zachary Edwards is a freelance writer, copywriter and editor who loves a great many things. One would be giving people the information they need in a format they can easily digest. Another would be the fact he can do this from a sunny porch. But mostly he likes good food.