Winter overnight parking

$85 permit designed to limit usage

September 5, the city’s winter operations were a major subject at Gatineau council’s plenary meeting. Councillor Champagne, for du Versant ward, asked the administration why winter parking permits for residents are so expensive, at $85; he said he’s regularly asked this by residents. He said he understood that overnight parking is limited by snowfall, meaning that during a winter such as the 2016-2017 season, with over 310 cm of snow (Gatineau’s average is closer to 200), the permits’ rules allowed for very little parking on residential streets.

The city’s general manager, Marie-Hélène Lajoie, reminded council that the councillors themselves voted for the overnight parking permit system. “And you decided to price it $85, with the purpose of limiting overnight street parking,” she said, adding a further reason, “as for why $85, and not $50 or some other price, the amount is the real cost for issuing the permit.” 

Marco Lalonde, Director of Public Works, added that if the price for the permit was to cover all the real costs to the city for dealing with cars parked on a snow-clogged street, the price would be much higher. “Cars parked on the streets overnight complicate public works in a serious manner -- in every season.”