Q&A - Can You Park in a T Intersection?

QUESTION: I live on a street where there is a T intersection. I'm wondering if it is OK to park in the top T portion of the intersection.

To complicate further - there is a curb let down (or curb ramp) on one leg of the T intersection. What is the distance required from the curb let down before a car can park? Is it 1.5 m (distance from driveway) or is it 6 m (distance from intersection)?

For reference, you can see the intersection on Google Maps at 14th Avenue East and Maddams Street in Vancouver:

ANSWER: Here is the applicable section of the Motor Vehicle Act for this situation:

When vehicle stopping prohibited

189 (1) Except when necessary to avoid conflict with traffic or to comply with the law or the directions of a peace officer or traffic control device, a person must not stop, stand or park a vehicle as follows:

(c) in an intersection, except as permitted by a sign;

(f) within 6 m of the approach side of a crosswalk;

What may cause the most trouble for drivers is the fact that there are three crosswalks at this intersection. You cannot see them as they are unmarked. None the less, they are there and the parking distance must be observed. That alone would keep drivers from parking within the intersection.

"crosswalk" means

(a) a portion of the roadway at an intersection or elsewhere distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by signs or by lines or other markings on the surface, or

(b) the portion of a highway at an intersection that is included within the connection of the lateral lines of the sidewalks on the opposite sides of the highway, or within the extension of the lateral lines of the sidewalk on one side of the highway, measured from the curbs, or in the absence of curbs, from the edges of the roadway;

It appears that the municipality is already aware of a problem as evidenced by the sign shown here: