By Pepper Parr
August 25th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Summer is far from over and the Beachway with is long long stretches of sandy beach are a welcome destination for many families.
During the harder days of our COVID19 experience there were few places people could congregate; the Beachway was one of them
That resulted in close to hundreds of cars and pickup trucks would arrive and park where ever there was an empty space.
It’s a perfect spot when it looks like this – but it is a resource that has to be shared.
Many people don’t realize that there is a gas pipeline running through the roadway – parking on top of it is not a good idea.
The city found that they had to introduce some restrictions and chose to use a PAID parking approach. It seems to have worked reasonably well.
The Beachway Park is actually a Regional Park operated and maintained by the city.
To ensure that Regional resident would be able to park the city introduced a parking pass procedure which ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith explans:
We would like to take this opportunity to clarify that Halton Region residents are allowed up to 10 free days of parking in the Beachway parking lots from May to September each year. Once you have used your 10 days of parking exemptions, you must pay for parking. For more information, please visit: Paid Parking and Reservations – City of Burlington
Weekends in Burlington means hundreds of people head for the Beachway – one of the best beaches in the province.
Sunny weather increases the traffic – and the traffic looks for parking spaces.
Prior to the pandemic the situation got out of hand and the city had to come up with a way to control the parking.
Did he get a ticket or was he towed. Was he even caught ?
There was a point where with no rules in place vehicles, often pick up trucks parked wherever they could find a spot.
The city came up with a set of rules that resulted in paid parking and they found a way to protect people in the Region from having to pay.
Fees will be charged from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends – until the last weekend in September: Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022.
Parking fees can be paid through the HONK mobile app. Users do not have to download the app – they scan the QR code on parking lot signage to pay for parking.
The solution the city came up with seems to have worked.
The hourly rate of $2.50 or a daily flat rate of $20. Users can scan the QR Code or download the HonkMobile app. There is a transaction fee of $0.35 for each payment. Dashboard tickets are not needed as every payment is linked to a license plate number. Parking ambassadors are onsite to assist visitors with this process.
You get ticketed when you do this – some of them got towed.
Illegally parked vehicles will be issued tickets and/or towed. Drivers are reminded not to park illegally, especially on Lakeshore Road shoulders and the grass boulevard over the pipeline as they will be towed.
Parking is free in Downtown Burlington on weekends and holidays. Beachway visitors are encouraged to extend their walk or use the drop-off zone, park for free in the downtown and meet their household members at the beach. For parking downtown, visit burlington.ca/downtownparking.
Visitors are also encouraged to consider taking Burlington Transit, cycling, walking or rolling to the beach and leaving their cars at home.
On May 21, Halton residents were able to take advantage of 10 free days of parking per year at Beachway Park. It is recommended that residents wait to fill out the parking exemption form once they’ve arrived at the beach and parked in a legal parking spot. The exemption doesn’t guarantee a spot, but it does give residents free parking for the day.
The Beachway is a very popular destination – people from the area love the place.
