The issue of parking was once again raised at the Meadow Lake city council table. During the regular Meadow Lake city council meeting held March 10, mayor Merlin Seymour expressed his concern about motorists who cross the solid line on Centre Street to park their vehicles on the opposite side of the roadway. “I know, previously with snow on the streets, people can’t always see that solid centre line going down Centre Street, but we do have a bylaw in place about crossing the centre line and parking on the other side of the street,” Seymour remarked. “Today, and this is a common occurrence, I was coming back from lunch around 12:40 p.m. and, in a two-block radius, there were five vehicles that did that. Somebody is going to run into somebody and it’s going to turn into, sorry, a pissing match.”

Councillor Conrad read said he isn’t certain as to how much of the solid centre line remains visible on the main drag, while councillor Marty Bishop asked if a solid line is even necessary. He suggested signs could simply be posted warning drivers not to cross to the other side of the road to park their vehicles. “A lot of people don’t read signs,” noted councillor Mauri Young. Bishop agreed. “But, a lot of the people don’t look at the line going down the middle of the road either,” he said. Seymour, meanwhile, reiterated his concern for the safety and well-being of motorists and pedestrians alike.

“It’s a safety thing,” he said. “If you have somebody backing out of a spot to the other side, somebody is going to back into someone else, and it’s going to turn into a pissing match, pardon my expression. I’ve seen it happen right in front of my business (Kelly Graphics). It happened about a week ago. Somebody almost got nailed. I don’t know if they just weren’t looking, but they did a U-turn right in the middle of the street.” While the mayor acknowledged the RCMP does have the ability to address these concerns as well, he asked if the matter could be brought to the attention of community safety officer Joe Hallahan. “This is happening more and more, and it’s frustrating,” he said. Read, meanwhile, said bylaw officer Tracy Chuckrey also has the authority to enforce the issue. Seymour agreed. “Yes, she should be able to because it is a city bylaw,” he said. “It might seem minute, but somebody is going to get hurt.”

According to interim city manager Neil Marsh’s monthly departmental overview for February, 44 traffic bylaw casefiles were investigated resulting in 28 notice if violation tickets being issued. Of these, 11 were for vehicles parked on the street for more than 24 hours, two for vehicles parked on a closed street, 14 for unregistered vehicles parked on the street and one for a vehicle parked in a ‘no parking’ zone. Five verbal/ written warnings were also issued.