It's a frustrating reality for anyone who works downtown: finding a place to park.

Depending where drivers choose to leave their vehicles, a day trip to Edmonton's core could run upwards of $20.

To save that cost, many frugal drivers choose to park on the fringes of the city's centre and walk.

Just east of downtown, it's become a growing concern for residents in Riverdale, who have long been inundated with these park-and-walkers.

"We're seeing a huge influx of day parkers — individuals, who, in large measure, are working in the downtown core and are deciding to park in Riverdale," said Robert Palser, president of the the Riverdale Community League.

Residents concerned about safety

On any given weekday, parked vehicles line the entirety of Cameron Avenue, 100A Avenue and 94th Street.

Residents have complained the densely packed cars cause significant safety concerns, especially in the winter.

Local drivers leaving alleys and driveways find it challenging to see oncoming traffic. The constant line of vehicles makes it harder for the city to completely clear the roads, which leads to gradual narrowing over the season, making it difficult for drivers to safely pass each other.

People are coming down the hill at speed and of course they can't see people in between the cars. - Robert Palser , president of the the Riverdale Community League

"People are coming down the hill at speed and of course they can't see people in between the cars," Palser said. "They're having to transit these very narrow passages because of all the parking on the street."

He says it's especially concerning because there is a daycare and a park nearby.

Safety issues aside, the bumper-to-bumper parking leaves also little room for residents themselves.

"It causes a lot of problems," said Brian Murphy, general supervisor of parking services with city operations.

"You come to park in a neighbourhood and you're going to leave your vehicle for the day, you find a spot and park it," he said. "The next person comes along and parks up right behind you. Eventually, we have a long line of vehicles adjacent to the residential areas and there's no opportunity for residents to park during the day."

Map shows the streets that would be affected by the proposed 2 hour parking restriction in Riverdale. (CBC)

Not a parking lot

Residents have seen the issue get worse in recent months for a number of reasons.

The closure of the Cloverdale footbridge has forced people who would normally park across the river and walk, to instead drive to Riverdale and park. Development of the adjacent Quarters area of downtown as well as the opening of the Ice District has also led to increased traffic in the area.

And while the availability of parking spots downtown has decreased, the cost has increased.

'No neighbourhood should get treated like a parking lot.' - Coun . Scott McKeen

"This is a problem for cities," said Coun. Scott McKeen, who represents the neighbourhood. "We're transitioning from big small town to medium-sized city and with that comes all the problems of traffic and parking."

A parking sign that may become prevalent in the Riverdale neighbourhood to deter commuters who park in the community and walk to work downtown. (City of Edmonton) He's been working with the Riverdale community league on the issue for the past month.

"There's something about someone coming along and parking in front of your house for eight-to-10 hours a day — or for the entire evening — that just flies in the face of handling that public asset in a fair and equitable way," McKeen said. "No neighbourhood should get treated like a parking lot."

About a month ago, McKeen tasked the city's parking services with devising a solution.

In short order, they proposed a parking management strategy for the area. It suggests a two-hour parking restriction along Cameron Avenue, 100A Avenue and 94 Street between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Residents would be eligible for two visitor/guest passes per household due to inadequate back lane access to their property.

Green light so far

Palser said so far, most of the feedback he's heard from residents has been positive.

"If you've been living on Cameron Avenue, or regularly driving it, you can see how parking has been basically non-existent," he said.

"Unless they had parking on their site, there was no possibility of parking on that street during working hours. So this has all been received by and large quite positively."

Palser added the only objection he's heard is that the city proposal doesn't go far enough and could force the problem deeper into the community.

"We're very happy that they responded and they've done so quickly - that's fantastic. We are willing to work with them though, because we have some concerns that this might not be the end or total solution to the problem — and the most obviously reason for that is people might just shift a street over," he said.

If approved, the city plans to closely monitor the restricted areas to make sure migration doesn't become a separate concern.

"If the problem moves out further into the neighbourhood, down the hill basically, we would look at those other areas as well to try to include them in the two-hour parking if the residents wish to do so," Murphy said.

"It's up to them if they want to live with the restrictions."

The city wants to hear from residents living in the affected areas by Friday.

If two-thirds of the community support the strategy, parking signs will be installed by the end of January or early February.