Halifax Shipyard workers snatching up nearby side street parking spaces

A north-end Halifax man says he and his neighbours are becoming increasingly frustrated with the Irving Shipyard because its employees are taking up the on-street parking on Duffus Street and other nearby side streets.

The bottom of Duffus Street meets up with Barrington Street, which is where the Irving Shipyard is located. John Mullane told CBC's Mainstreet he can tell the parkers are shipyard employees because many of the vehicles have Irving stickers in the windows.

"And we're finding it's encroaching even more and more up the hill now and on both sides of the street," said John Mullane.

He said the workers arrive early in the morning and start leaving between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Workers are legally allowed to park on the street, but Mullane said it's a big inconvenience for the neighbourhood.

"We're just wondering why Irving as a multimillion-dollar company can't accommodate their workers and why they're using a residential neighbourhood ... like a commercial space," he said.

"When you have a thousand cars coming and going every day, that to me qualifies as a commercial activity because they're employees. I'm not sure what the logic is."

Mullane said he's against the idea of the street getting parking permits. He said Irving needs to do more to address the issue.

"The whole point of Ships Start Here is great — it's giving people jobs and I'm all for that. It's just, 'Why are we not accommodating our workers with parking spaces?'"

A spokesperson for Irving told Mainstreet it is aware that on-street parking is at a premium because of increased activity and local construction projects.

The company said it provides on-site parking at no cost to employees, but also acknowledge that not everyone can be accommodated.

"We offer premium parking passes to carpoolers and provide a 50 per cent reimbursement on employees transit passes to encourage the use of public transit," Irving said in an emailed statement on Friday.

"We regularly remind all of our employees to comply with all parking regulations."

What workers say

Ian MacIntosh, a service worker at the shipyard, told Mainstreet on Tuesday there's never enough parking, so he takes the bus instead.

"It's been an issue always, it's ongoing," MacIntosh said.

Adrian Popa, another shipyard worker, agreed there isn't enough parking at the shipyard.

He said he finds parking on the side streets near the shipyard.

"I think that people who live in that area don't have any problem with us," Popa said.