Bye-Bye To Free Parking on Part of Edmonton Street
.html)
Diagram shows parking plan changes for Edmonton Street – image courtesy Northern Health
Prince George, B.C.- There is a project underway to create new parking spaces at the University Hospital of Northern B.C.
Through the widening of Edmonton Street between 15th and 13th, elimination of the left hand turn lane on to 15th avenue, and the development of angle parking on Edmonton and in the existing parking lot, about 52 new parking stalls will be created.
But there’s a catch.
When completed, the new stalls on Edmonton Street will no longer provide free parking, just as is the case in the visitors lot, you will be required to pay to park your vehicle.
“We knew we had to find a unique method to increase visitor parking at UHNBC, and working with the City of Prince George has allowed us to do this,” said Michael McMillan, Northern Health Chief Operating Officer for the Northern Interior.
The details of the City’s involvement in the project are not yet available, as those who have that information were not available at the time this story was being developed. It is not yet known if the City has turned over the strip of Edmonton Street to Northern Health, what City costs (if any) were involved, and who will benefit from the proceeds of the pay parking.
There will also be the creation of enhanced cross walks and sidewalks to bus loops and parking lots across 15th Avenue and an “exit only” to 15th Avenue west (right turn only) in front of the yet to be completed Learning and Development Centre.
The work is to be completed by this Fall.
When combined with the new parking stalls that will be available by the end of this month on the site of the former Nechako Building, there will be 107 new parking spaces at the hospital before the end of this year.
Comments
More health services in PG is great. BUT, Northern Health is being completely irresponsible in their building designs.
It is NOT ok to keep expanding the size of the hospital and surrounding services and put ZERO thought into where staff are to park. Almost half of the Crescents neighbourhood constantly has Northern Health staff parked in front of their homes, blocking driveways, and so on. The sad thing is that the now all of the people that refused to pay for parking before (at the parking garage) will now expand even further out into the Crescents since they can’t park for free on Edmonton St.
Staff are too cheap to pay for parking (despite their generally comfortable wages). Northern Health needs to build a much, much larger parking garage and needs to remove fees so that staff actually park there.
It is an insult to have to pay for parking while being treated or visiting the ill!
They built a parkade along with the Cancer Centre, but it is for staff only, and doesn’t provide enough space for all the staff to park, either. They’ve shown a complete lack of foresight when developing the hospital. Northern Health at its finest.
isnt that where all of the staff park against snow removal bylaws and the snowplows have to go around them all winter? :)
I agree that there should be sufficient parking available for staff, and that there should be free parking for those visiting the hospital.
The idea of charging for parking is bogus at best, and is nothing more than a cash grab. People have enough problems going to the hospital and don’t need to be further aggravated by parking restrictions.
In the matter of **comfortable wages** Michael McMillan Northern Health Chief Operating Officer, earns in excess of $220,000.00 per year, and you can bet your bottom dollar he doesn’t pay for any parking.
What a great healthy care system we have. A $152.00 for health care coverage for two adults and its all supposed to be free. And the USA is always citing our free health care that they would like to have.
Here in Abbotsford the parking fee at the hospital is $2.50 an hour and at emergency its 2.75. Its all just a money grab for a health care that is top heavy with administration.
Cheers
Maybe people should be looking at the reasons and who is responsible for the messes city hall puts the taxpayers through.
You can bet your bottom dollar NH has been working with the planning and bylaw depts. of city hall.
A proponent goes to city hall and says this is what we would like to do. Planning then assists the proponent with their proposal. So………… in my books who do you blame??
If planning reviews and assists the proponents then it goes to council, do you think the council and mayor know any difference? Are they going to listen to planning because they are the “professionals”? You bet.
If planning was doing planning, would parking not have been an issue in the first place??? City council are not given all the details of any situation from administration. The planning and bylaws dept. picks and chooses what the council needs to know.
This is evident in the Haldi Road fiasco….
Will the scumbag parking attendants still have a job?
I agree with guesswhat.
Comments for this article are closed.