The City of Ottawa is considering changes to its overnight winter parking ban as it’s expected to exceed its snow removal budget by $10 million this year.

Open houses on the topic of how to better clear Ottawa’s streets in the winter — including feedback on the possibility of changing the current parking ban model — will be held as early as April, the city’s general manager of public works Kevin Wylie told CBC News.

"We will be going out in sort of April, May time frame to consult with the public to see if they have any ideas on how the ban can work better," he said.

City crews were busy clearing slush, puddles, snow and ice off roads Monday morning before temperatures dropped. (Sherry Aske/CBC) It will also be a time for city staff to share information about how other municipalities manage snow removal, he said.

The City of Ottawa currently issues an overnight parking ban when there is more than seven centimetres of snow in the forecast – but when it snows during the day, plows are forced to work around parked cars.

Residents can also apply for on-street parking permits for an exemption to the ban. Many of the 1,050 permits issued this winter were in the downtown neighbourhood of Centretown but Wylie said the city has dealt with clearing snow on those residential streets for many years. Of greater concern is the arterial roads, he said.

Some ideas that could be discussed include a seasonal parking ban from November to April, or a rolling parking ban, which would aim to be timed to the arrival of the snow rather than from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m., he said.

"At this point, we're going to look at everything. We're not going to discount anything," he said. "But we're certainly interested to see what the residents have to say about it."

He hopes that any changes would be implemented by the end of 2015.

Snow removal costs 'weather dependent'

The City of Ottawa budgeted $62 million for winter road maintenance in 2015, as part of its overall $96 million road budget. It has already spent $37 million – with a chance of more snow in the forecast this week.

Wylie said the city is on course to exceed its winter roads budget by $10 million but that all depends on how much snow falls at the end of the year.

“If it doesn’t snow in November and December, then we’re golden,” he said. “If we have a rough couple of months, then we’re going to have to do something else. It's very weather dependent.”

He said the winter road maintenance budget is calculated based on snowfall over the past several years, but added it can be difficult to predict with certainty.

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