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Should Construction Workers Get Free Parking?

hawc

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They drive all the way in from who knows where in their big private pick-up trucks (nothing to do with the job.) They have to work hard all day. Shouldn't they at least get free parking in the heart of the city? After all, parking is expensive. Why should they have to pay for it like everyone else? Why not just move a few of the cones back near the place you're working at and voila free parking! So simple.

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I watched 4 guys do it this morning from my condo. They drove in. Parked their trucks and put cones and signs all around them before going to work.

It's a well known construction zone that starts on Bloor immediately WEST of Mt. Pleasant. But these guys parked EAST of Mt. Pleasant well outside the construction area and on the Bloor ramp to Mt. Pleasant. Which was around the corner from the construction site.

But hey, just throw some cones around it and put the sign with the arrow up and you're good to go!

I reported it to Toronto Parking and 311 but didn't see any of them get ticketed. I guess I'm just a goody-two-shoes with too much time on my hands. I should mind my own business.

ps. If you're a cop on paid duty directing traffic on your own time, leave your Police windbreaker hanging over the driver's seat or in the conspicuously in the rear window so the parking enforcement guys know to give you free parking too. (Didn't see that on this occasion mind you, but see it lots of other times.)
 

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Hawc, you live up here too now?

I noticed the parking too, but I'm glad they have the lane shut further East from the actual construction area. It's made traffic move a little better. Before doing so, people were being asses and bypassing the backed up traffic and merging at the last minute. This has helped.

The parking on that ramp to Mount Pleasant, and the cones, does seem excessive and unnecessary though. I doubt they actually got permission to close off part of that ramp.
 
My father was in construction in the 1950's through to the 1980's. He was picked up by the construction company and rode in the back of the truck. No seatbelts. Today, because of the seatbelt laws, they can't do that anymore. So they drive their own car. Comes down to "be careful what you wish for".
 
You see it all the time. 181 Davenport, in particular, was terrible as it seemed most of the time the curb lane was blocked off for the sole purpose of providing worker parking. At the commencement of the construction on the old Walnut Hall site on Shuter (O2?), the workers even had the audacity to erect no parking signs further east on Shuter, on the opposite (south) of the street, as there were no real opportunities for pylon-protected worker parking on the north side adjacent to the construction. Once people on Twitter figured out that the no parking signs had nothing to do with the City and/or the construction and had been placed by construction workers to reserve free parking for themselves, the signs disappeared within a day or two.

If Mayor Tory was serious about improving traffic circulation in the downtown, he would ensure that a prohibition on private parking is made a condition of any street occupation permit.
 
ps. If you're a cop on paid duty directing traffic on your own time, leave your Police windbreaker hanging over the driver's seat or in the conspicuously in the rear window so the parking enforcement guys know to give you free parking too. (Didn't see that on this occasion mind you, but see it lots of other times.)

or even worse...the cops who are off duty and are paid by parking lots. Let's completely stop traffic along Front (Simcoe Place) or Bay (45 Bay after the Leafs are done) as soon as one car needs out of the parking lot...because private access to a parking lot is more important than the actual right of way on a street.
 
^^^ That's pretty bad too. As a guy coming occasionally exiting that lot I always feel embarrassed by that.
 
If the workers are bringing toolboxes etc. in their truck I don't have a huge issue with it, but it should be done by explicit permit and not just by placing cones.
 
If the workers are bringing toolboxes etc. in their truck I don't have a huge issue with it, but it should be done by explicit permit and not just by placing cones.

I would disagree with that. Many Torontonians have to bring tools, paperwork, uniforms, equipment, etc. to work, but the vast majority of them don't get to close off part of the street to facilitate that. They pay for parking, lug their stuff on the subway, etc.

It's one thing for a construction zone to have a space for drop offs, and even to have couple of parking spaces for commercial vehicles needed for the construction. But day-long parking for worker's personal vehicles, and the off-duty cop's car, is a completely different thing. I have seen way too many instances where this "free parking" doesn't just add to the length of the occupied roadway, but also in itself creates additional impacts on the flow of motor and bicycle traffic (and sometimes even screws with pedestrians).
 
If the workers are bringing toolboxes etc. in their truck I don't have a huge issue with it, but it should be done by explicit permit and not just by placing cones.

So if a lawyer brings a laptop and a bunch of files from the office can he/she park in front of the court house on University? No.

What's the difference? There is an unloading area in almost every construction site. They can unload their tools and then find a parking lot and pay for parking like everyone else. And at the end of the day they can drive back and pick up their tools.

...edit...sorry I was a bit slow on the draw. started writing before the previous post was uploaded
 
More construction workers just parking wherever they want. Tearing up all the grass and making it muddy. Well outside the construction site they're working in. Again, why is this allowed? Lakeshore/Dunn.

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I think the Star Fixer column did a thing about construction parking a while back. Ah, here it is:
https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto...hampton_live_and_park_by_their_own_rules.html

STATUS: Andre Filippetti, who’s in charge of right-of-way management in that area, said a city inspector was sent Thursday to get rid of the pylons and signs used to create parking for workers. With all the construction, it’s hard to keep up with scams to create parking for workers at job sites, he said. If people see a situation where curb space is used for the wrong reasons, they should report it to 311, said Filippetti, adding the city always checks out complaints from the public.
 
They could easily have a designated pick-up and drop-off zone for equipment and a local off-street parking site could have a few spots reserved for construction workers as part of a contract or incorporated in the costs of construction.
 
Finally someone created a thread on this issue. At my old condo, a bunch of construction workers would block a large part of an access road to my parking garage. At times, there was no way getting back home without having to drive on a sidewalk. I complained numerous times to 311, mayor's office and councillor's office. They tried at first, but then gave up. Basically, our city is run by construction companies, they do whatever they want.
 

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