'Nobody could park anywhere': Metallica concert goers clog residential streets with illegal parking jobs

Commonwealth Stadium parking concerns Residents who live near Commonwealth Stadium say big events mean big parking problems for them. Nav Sangha reports.

With two shows in the can, Metallica did exactly what they came here to do – entertain the masses and knock the socks off Commonwealth Stadium attendees.

With nearly 120,000 fans rocking out on Aug. 23 and 25, fans' parking efforts in nearby neighbourhoods left residents shaking their heads instead of banging them.

Cindy Delmars, who's been living close to the stadium the last five years, told CTV News Edmonton on Monday that her husband experienced a medical emergency on Aug. 25 and Emergency Medical Services had difficulties getting in and out of the area due to the amount of cars on the street.

"It was crazy busy, nobody could park anywhere," Delmars said. "Everybody parks here, and then they get ticketed, they get towed away … they don't follow the rules and the signs."

"It's very frustrating because my husband gets sick and the ambulance couldn't even park here – the fire trucks have a hard time getting through here."

In the Delmars' neighbourhood, only residents with valid parking permits are allowed to park their vehicles on the street. The City of Edmonton said they issued 549 parking tickets during both of Metallica's concerts.

Ward O'day-min councillor Anne Stevenson said city staff need to "go back and start from the drawing board" and take their time with making amendments to the parking pressures in the area.

"One approach could be having the price of Edmonton Transit Services built into the sales ticket so that people can take transit there," said Coun. Stevenson.

"We want to have these great events happening in our city, but we also want to be managing it for the people that live nearby so it doesn't disrupt their lives much," she added.

The next major event at Commonwealth Stadium is scheduled for Aug. 31 when P!nk stops on her Summer Carnival 2024 tour.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nav Sangha.