ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A taxi layby area was scrapped with a city council vote Tuesday evening.
A stretch of the south side of New Gower Street from the City Hall Annex westward to the mobile vendor parking stalls included seven parking spaces that were allocated as a trial taxi layby beginning last spring.
It was implemented to give taxis another place to park late at night between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., which meant the public was not permitted to park in the seven parking spaces during that time.
However, Coun. Debbie Hanlon said the spaces weren’t being used by taxis.
“People were getting tickets in that area, and they were frustrated because that area was totally unutilized. So, after a couple of businesspeople contacted me, we had it looked at, and sure enough no one was using it.”
Hanlon said businesses in the area also wanted to avail of the parking spaces.
She said taxis can continue to park on George Street and Adelaide Street as usual. She said the loss of this layby should not affect taxi drivers because there was little uptake among taxi drivers for the layby during the trial period.
The seven parking spaces will no longer have the meters bagged at night and people can start parking there immediately, Hanlon said, though she added it might take a couple of days for any related signage to be removed.
