Parking pains grow in Coquitlam as a holiday lights event draws out crowds
Lights at Lafarge is one of the region’s most anticipated events, where locals can enjoy a beautiful display of holiday lights. However, the large crowds that the attraction draws are once again creating a traffic nightmare.
The event is an annual tradition that illuminates Lafarge Lake in Coquitlam throughout the season with over 100,000 twinkling lights to enjoy until the end of February.
However, parking lots near Town Centre Park often fill up, creating quite a frustrating experience for others trying to find parking for other events and activities.
One person on Facebook shared her experience when dropping off her children for a Christmas performance at the Evergreen Cultural Centre.
“The number of people choosing to ignore the fact that [the Pinetree Way] parking lot is for Evergreen Cultural Centre patrons only is insane,” she said. “The traffic control person was just showing up and was just shaking their head as the entire parking lot was full of people waiting for a spot.”
She added parking lots at Town Centre Park were “rammed” as well.
According to the Evergreen Cultural Centre, it sees a huge increase in visitors every year for the Lights at Lafarge. However, the seasonal event affects all the parking lots near Town Centre Park “and ours is especially popular due to its proximity to the lake,” it added.
“We love to see so many new faces around our building, but we know this can be frustrating for our ticketholders, gallery patrons, and other attendees,” the centre said in a statement to Daily Hive.
View this post on Instagram
The parking lot located at Evergreen Cultural Centre is owned and operated by the City of Coquitlam. According to the centre, the City has been trying to provide support like signage to direct traffic to other nearby lots and providing traffic control personnel.
“Unfortunately, traffic control is only provided on nights when Evergreen season events are scheduled and there have been a few times this year where no personnel were provided,” the centre said.
“As Coquitlam cultural partners, we are in regular contact with City staff to resolve this.”
The Evergreen Cultural Centre added that it has been told that the City’s traffic division has spoken with the traffic control company, “and we have been assured that there will be no further issues.”
The centre encourages people with concerns to contact the City to help it show that regular support is needed.
People attending the Lights at Lafarge are encouraged to access the other parking lots nearby or use public transit, for example, the Lafarge Lake-Douglas Skytrain Station.
Daily Hive reached out to the City of Coquitlam for comment.
Follow Channels and Categories