On a quiet paved country road. Parked car on soft shoulder, went for hike. Parking ticket for "Park on Boulevard" Looking up By-Law shows car must be 6 feet from edge of roadway. This is not possible on most country roads I see, have parked many times, never received ticket before. So, are you a sitting duck every time you park on a country road now? Is this all over Ontario? What happens if I want to watch ice racing at Scotland pond?
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Parking car on soft shoulder.
- Thread starter inreb
- Start date
I understand some situations such as the Tiny Township one where the residents don't want the overflow from Wasaga Beach on their private properties but if this goes wholesale yes the ice racing is nixed. Also you can't pull over and show the kids a herd of cows, take a scenic picture. Ontario, nothing to see here folks, keep moving?
statsman
Well-known member
The boulevard is described in the Highway Traffic Act as the unused portion of the road allowance.
You have the road, then you have the property line. The boulevard is the area from the edge of the road to the property line.
This is the area that may be used at some point in the future to widen the road.
6 feet is generally the area quoted and is a good rule of thumb.
To be precise however, you would have to refer to the municipal survey map to see where the property line is compared to the road.
You have the road, then you have the property line. The boulevard is the area from the edge of the road to the property line.
This is the area that may be used at some point in the future to widen the road.
6 feet is generally the area quoted and is a good rule of thumb.
To be precise however, you would have to refer to the municipal survey map to see where the property line is compared to the road.
I was going to go down to the Municipal Service Centre this morning to dafuq? them but instead grabbed a coffee and drove by the scene of the crime. It looks like I parked on all grass, there really is no soft shoulder there. I'm in the wrong. I'm pretty sure.
statsman
Well-known member
If this was out in the country, go to the township office and ask to see the survey map.
Check the road where this happened. The road will be marked as will the property line.
If you were parked all on grass, it is quite possible you were on private property, not the boulevard.
Depends how much trouble you want to go to.
Check the road where this happened. The road will be marked as will the property line.
If you were parked all on grass, it is quite possible you were on private property, not the boulevard.
Depends how much trouble you want to go to.
Country road allowances are typically 66 feet wide, with adjacent property lines a nominal 33 feet from either side of the center of the road. Typical paved road lanes in the country are 10 to 12 feet wide. The rest of the math is up to you to do.
+1, the ROW normally grossly exceeds the width of the road. Technically half of my driveway is within the ROW, we don't have a sidewalk on our side, but the ROW is large enough to accomodate it if they wanted to. For many roads now, pavement width is ~half the width of the ROW.
This happened about a 1/4 mile from paid parking conservation area so there's probably an ongoing issue anyway. I'm probably not the only one trying to beat the system. Like I said, I've never received a parking ticket on a country road ever but I think we're now living in desperate times. It's all about *gotcha* now.
I wanted to show a bunch of out-of-towners some of our nicer views near Dundas / Ancaster but it was going to be $10.00 per bike per view, just for a quick peek. Didn't happen.
Even if one was going to stay, four bikes in one car spot netted them the same as four cars using four spots. Nice if you can get it.
statsman
Well-known member
Several years ago I was visiting a friend in the Bloor and Bathurst area.
He told me to just park in his driveway. I came out and there was a ticket on my car for parking on the boulevard.
I checked it out on the survey map.
From Bloor north the property line was at the edge of the sidewalk. There is no boulevard.
North of the first cross street, the property line moved five feet into the front yard of the houses.
Technically, I was on the boulevard, although why the property line changed from one part of the street to the next is a mystery.
Boulevards and property lines change from street to street and sometimes from block to block on the same street.
He told me to just park in his driveway. I came out and there was a ticket on my car for parking on the boulevard.
I checked it out on the survey map.
From Bloor north the property line was at the edge of the sidewalk. There is no boulevard.
North of the first cross street, the property line moved five feet into the front yard of the houses.
Technically, I was on the boulevard, although why the property line changed from one part of the street to the next is a mystery.
Boulevards and property lines change from street to street and sometimes from block to block on the same street.
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Is this a taste of things to come and how do we know what is legal? I always thought you could generally park anywhere (Within reason) where it wasn't specifically prohibited. Is it the other way round in that you can only park where it is specifically permitted?
I went on a countryside bicycle ride today where all of a sudden it dawned on me that a lot of gravel roads have no shoulder. Maybe a thin strip of grass then a ditch or field. So, according to my recent parking infraction, none of these roads you could legally leave a vehicle unattended ie; parked. This is disconcerting to say the least.
City boulevards are easy to understand but what about the thousands of rural country roads? I wonder how many people you can't leave your vehicle to pee in the bushes? With the many thousands of laws on the books you have to wonder what other ones you're contravening regularly. Everybody either needs to be well versed in all areas of law or they're sitting ducks.
Growing up in the country I was under the impression you can park pretty much anywhere. I've never heard of someone getting a ticket outside of a city until now.
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