A busy summer on area highways has Grey County staff looking at new parking restrictions.
One spot in particular, Grey Road 2 in The Blue Mountains near Kolapore Uplands, stirred up concern.
“Our staff, who were out on patrol, actually recommend no parking signs be installed here several months ago, because it was out of control,” said Matt Marck, engineering manager for Grey County during a committee of the whole meeting held this week.
“People were parking on both sides of an ‘S’ curve. There was already an overflowing parking lot on the grass and we really felt it was a safety concern at that time,” he added.
The county’s transportation services department is recommending a county bylaw be revised to allow no parking sign to be posted.
The Town of the Blue Mountains' councillor Andrea Matrosovs also voiced her concerns about the same stretch of highway earlier in the summer when the municipality was considering increasing its bylaw staff.
“There were 25 cars on each side of the road, including the illegal parking. People were not practising the six-foot distances, and it is going to continue to get worse in our rural areas,” she said.
“The strain on the parking and constant illegal parking is a huge issue. We lost a local person. Someone died on that strip because the parking was not regulated back then. I do not want to see that kind of thing happen again,” Matrosovs continued.
The county committee report TR-CW-17-20, notes the no parking signs will be an “interim safety measure”.
Council has not yet voted on the matter, but it will be on the agenda at the next Grey County council meeting.