Summerside to remove 12 more parking spaces on Pope Road

Summerside, P.E.I., city council voted to remove 12 more parking spaces from Pope Road, according to Summerside Deputy Mayor Norma McColeman.

"The premise of the whole situation was people were very concerned about people getting in and out of businesses as well as pedestrians walking, that there was a problem with visibility and traffic safety," said McColeman. 

McColeman said the city received a number of calls about safety on Pope Road — one of Summerside's busiest, high traffic volume roads. City council turned over the case to the Summerside Police Services and received a recommendation from Police Chief Dave Poirier was that there was indeed safety and visibility issues.

The recommendation was brought to city council where a decision was made to remove the spaces. 

18 spaces removed so far

"You really have to look at the fact that if visibility is impeded in anyway … then we really have that responsibility to look at that and we have to act on those things in a fair and respectful manner," McColeman said. "We felt in this case that we do have to rule in the case of safety and visibility."

This marks the second time this year that Summerside has removed parking spaces from the busy roadway. City council approved eliminating six parking spaces back in April on a similar recommendation and has decided, once again, to revisit parking concerns and remove more spaces.

Eighteen spaces have been removed so far this year, which is lower than the city's target of roughly 24.

Solutions to the Pope Road parking issue is still unknown, although McColeman did say there are several options being discussed to counter the removed parking spaces such as improving bus services and introducing a carpool lot.

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