“Highway 401 Parking On Gravel”

There's a place where I have been fishing for over 20 years along the 401. One time I had parked along the hwy and didn't notice the NO PARKING signs along that side(eastward). An officer(OPP) came to see me near the water and was nice enough to point out the signs and said I could park on the other side of the hwy(westward).

Another time, I was fishing and some guys were poaching and drinking so I went to my vehicle parked on the westward side where I was able to flag down an OPP and tell them about the guys. Didn't say I couldn't park there.

A few years ago I had pulled over on the eastward side to make a call and an OPP officer pulled up to see if I was ok because I was pulled over where the sign was. Everything was cool and he did mention he thought I might be fishing and left me car parked there which was a no no, but I could park on the other side.

NOW, yesterday I took my family fishing at that same spot I have been fishing for many years and parked at that same spot on the westward side where I have been told was ok along the 401, behind a guard rail just past a bridge. An officer, young guy and polite, is checking out my vehicle so I went over and he then tells me I can't park anywhere along any hwy especially the 401. I told him I knew I couldn't park on the other side because there are signs and that I have been told by another officer that this side was fine. He said "No, you cannot park along a hwy because it's too dangerous. Just like you cannot walk along the way because you are endangering yourself and others" I told him I wasn't walking along the hwy because I walk down under the bridge but told him I understood his point just so I wouldn't get into any trouble

My question is: Is there a specific law about parking on the hwy if there are no signs? I would like to think that this guy is wrong because 2 out of 4 cops told me I could park there and the other with the poaching incident, didn't say I couldn't park there. I want to know if I could continue going there but stopping in at the local OPP station and telling my story just to nicely say "That's my vehicle, I'm not parked illegally and I'm fishing in case you need to know who's vehicle that is"

Here is the exact location:

45° 7'57.77"N

74°30'15.64"W

Thanks for any help.

1) You'd have to go through Regulation 604 of the HTA to see if that area is covered in the Schedule prohibiting parking.

2) Regulation 627 prohibits all pedestrians from Hwy 401. In my opinion, If you're out of your car and it's not an emergency, you're a pedestrian.

ok, but you missed the question. It has nothing to do we me. I'm not even on the hwy. I'm down by the river.

If there is such a rule about no parking on the hwy, at all, why are there signs in certain areas that say No Parking?

Hwy is fence line to fence line.. FYI

(12) Despite the other provisions of this section, no person shall park or stand a vehicle on a highway in such a manner as to interfere with the movement of traffic or the clearing of snow from the highway. R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 170 (12).