Getting Around FAQs

Parking

What should I do on a narrow street if vehicles are parked so that only one car can pass at a time?

Parked cars on both sides of a narrow street is common in Saanich.

  • Be safe. Slow down!
  • You may need to yield to oncoming traffic.

You may find this frustrating but it can be a good thing. It lowers the speed in our residential areas.

  • Many of our residential streets do not have sidewalks.
  • This acts as natural traffic calming.
  • Low car speeds are good for the mix of vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.

Parked cars block my view when I pull out of my driveway. I can’t see road traffic. Can you do something about this?

We have laws that spell out where people can park in Saanich. It’s forbidden to block a driveway’s visibility.

  • A vehicle may not park within 1.5 m of a driveway.

If your driveway is at an odd location — it’s the geometry that blocks your view — there is no easy solution. 

  • Try backing into your driveway. Getting out may be easier.
  • Build a turn-around area. Back into this. Then drive out facing traffic.

Can I have Residential Parking Only (RPO) signs placed on my street?

We may consider RPO signs for certain areas if:

  • There are a lot of vehicles from out of the area.
  • The traffic is constant.
  • These cars use up all, or nearly all, of the available on-street parking.

These restrictions permit only residents and their guests to park on the street. Unfortunately, it is not easy to tell the vehicles apart.  Enforcement is done on a complaint basis only.

For more detailed information please visit our Parking Tickets & Residential Parking Only page.

Can I upgrade my boulevard to provide more parking in front of my home?

No.

  • The Boulevard Permit states boulevard changes can’t be made for parking.
  • The provincial Motor Vehicle Act deems parking on the boulevard illegal. 

The term "boulevard" refers to the area between a property line and the shoulder of a roadway.

Parking Links

Speeding

Can you lower the speed limit on my street?

The BC Motor Vehicle Act sets the speed limit in any municipality at 50 km/h, unless otherwise specified. Exceptions are schools or playgrounds. 

Lowering the speed limit rarely slows down traffic.

  • Most drivers do not slow down unless there is a physical reason like a curve in the road or a roadside curb. Or they are driving through a playground.
  • The police cannot adequately patrol all slower roads with the same levels. They focus on higher volume roads, accident prone locations and school zones.

We are not unique in that many of our residential streets do not have different speed zones. It is common in the province to have mixed traffic on the road.

Can you install speed humps on my street?

Generally, we no longer install speed humps on our streets.  We have found through experience that they have some negative effects for traffic and neighbourhoods:

  • Each speed hump can delay a large fire truck up to ten seconds.
  • Cars driving over the speed humps are noisy.
  • SUV's and trucks can still drive over them quite quickly. 

It is our experience that the vast majority of motorists respect the nature of a local road.  However, if you see someone speeding on a residential road, please call the Saanich Police Department at their non-emergency phone number at 250-475-4321 and report the incident. Please collect the following details if possible:

  • Vehicle make
  • Model
  • Licence Plate number
  • Time of day

If people are speeding at an intersection, can I get stop signs installed?

Stop signs are not intended as speed control devices. We use them to control right-of-way conflicts.

Using them where they are not needed increases:

  • Frustration
  • Delay to drivers
  • Fuel consumption
  • Vehicle noise and emissions
  • The number of people not obeying the law
  • Frequency of collisions