By Simon Hopkins
If you’re going to park your car along the Richmond, Wellington, and Somerset Street corridors in the near future, you will need to pull out your wallet.
The change is expected to be implemented in 2025 when parking meters are erected on the main roads between Broadview Ave in Westboro and the Somerset bridge over the O-Train tracks in Hintonburg.
To date, most parking along this stretch of road is free, with a time limit during the day. In most parts, that limit is 90 minutes, with a two-hour limit in some places. Most of the restrictions are only during peak hours of the week.
This year, the city conducted a parking study in Kitchissippi and found that utilization of on-street parking in some Westboro and Wellington West areas has increased by over 10 per cent in the last decade.
With the high demand for parking, the city is looking to create more availability through paid parking. In theory, if parking costs money, people will try to minimize the time spent parked, creating turnover.
But employees who work in the many businesses along this stretch of road can’t change how long they’re parked for. Many businesses don’t have reserved spots for workers, and paid parking could add a burden on the stores or have to be paid by workers themselves.
Kitchissippi ward councillor Jeff Leiper was in support of paid parking and said the benefits will outweigh the negatives.
“It’s going to make driving to work more difficult. We can’t help that,” Leiper told KT. “The city does not provide free parking so that people can work in stores and restaurants.”
Related: Potential paid parking driving a wedge in Kitchissippi
Leiper believes encouraging transit use is the solution but acknowledges that commuting across the city is tricky. It’s why he had hoped the implementation would be delayed until light rail construction in the area concludes in 2026 or 2027, but the transportation committee axed that proposal.
“Getting from Orleans or Stitsville to [work in] Westboro can involve multiple transfers between buses. It will become significantly easier once LRT Stage 2 opens in hopefully very late 2026 or maybe 2027.”
Leiper said parking availability is needed to encourage people to shop and eat in Westboro and Wellington West. Paid parking encourages more car turnover, ensuring more spots are open each hour.
That debate is less necessary in Wellington West, Leiper admitted, but leaving that stretch of road free would be unfair while others become paid. He noted how other major roads like Bank Street, Preston Street, and parts of Somerset already have paid parking.
“There might be a short-term impact on businesses, but we will get through that,” he said.
Spaniel’s Tale co-owner Cole Davidson said he brought up the issue of staff parking during consultations with businesses but was shut down by the city.
Davidson would have liked the opportunity to pay for a parking pass employees could put in the windows of their cars, but it wasn’t a suggestion the city was willing to hear. Regardless, he isn’t worried the implementation will take too much business away.
“I don’t think it will come as a huge surprise to pay for parking,” Davidson told KT.
He supported the city’s decision but was unimpressed with the reception of the ideas brought forward by businesses.
“I do recognize that most of the other sort of traditional Main Street neighbourhoods have paid parking. And it’s not fair for there to be outliers in that regard,” Davidson said. “The issue that concerns me the most is the lack of compromise or willingness to see from our side.”
