Alderley Edge Parish Council are calling for the parking problems on Trafford Road to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Cllr Melanie Connor raised the danger of the current situation at this week's Parish Council meeting where she told her fellow councillors "I was contacted by a resident of Trafford Road who was nearly killed coming out of her driveway."
The lady concerned had edged her way out onto Trafford Road having limited visibility because cars were parked either side, partly blocking the driveway, when a car travelling at speed narrowly missed her.
Cars and vans have been parking on the north section of Trafford Road for some time now, often on both sides of the road, forcing drivers to travel on the wrong side of the road approaching a bend.
The Parish Council agreed to write to Cheshire East Council requesting that they do something about the problem as a matter of urgency because it is an issue of safety.
Last month I reported that problems with parking on Lynton Lane had prevented an ambulance from getting through to a care home and resulted in resident's waste bins not being collected because the lorry could not get down the road. Cllr Mary Maczkowiak raised the issues on this road again at this week's meeting and called for it to also be prioritised after a fire engine got stuck on Lynton Lane one afternoon last week.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Must a child get run over or must someone die before it gets everyone's attention?
What do you consider a reduced fee? South St is £14.50 a week Monday to Friday.
I don't know what the annual ticket is. Is £25 per month by direct debit about right?
Laura,
I understand your point about Aldeli and double yellows, but the reason why people want them is that a) the offenders can be prosecuted and b) I guess if their recklessness causes an accident they can be held to account for the reckless behaviour.
£25/month parking would seem a good deal to me for someone driving in , guess key is places that allow all day parking.
1. To combat this we need a lot more parking available at convenient locations to suit the local businesses and schools (Yes, our local teachers and staff need parking too)
2. Local businesses and school must get involved and enforce employees to use these off road parking, perhaps the car park fees can be deducted from payroll or just rolled into as part of employee benefits.
3. Allow traffic warden and PCSO to target any 'repeating' offenders in obstructing the road on regular basis. Therefore a database of offending vehicles is necessary.
4. School must work with parents to create a safe process to pickup and drop off children. The situation at around all three schools are dangerous. I know all the schools have tried tackling this many times, unfortunately the situation is getting worst and the school need to remind parents on a regular basis to comply to safety measures.
Thanks for the feedback.
We do need different markings on the roads which can be enforced, and then we have to provide a proper alternative space. What is perfectly clear is that we cannot ignore the growing trend which is becoming more of a road safety issue, rather than just a nuisance.
In any case, cannot believe any of these plots of land would be affordable given their potential alternative uses!
A monthly fee of £25 certainly sounds a reasonable fee to charge, but as Ricky said low paid workers in the village will surely choose to park on residential streets for free. The only real solution is to restrict parking on our roads in order to force those from outside the village to take up a reduced daily parking fee on designated car parks. What about the Festival rooms car park, I do not think that is used to its full potential? It is also a lot closer to the village than some of the roads currently used.
Festival Hall car park will reduce to 33 spaces during the new building process, and then we will lose a couple of spaces when the telephone masts move. So, given that the Medical Centre will want a number of spaces there is a great need for hall users, never mind the existing on street parkers.
The reason for using Heyes Lane site as a car park is to create a solution for all of our parking needs. I agree that the pricing is crucial, and the pricing will reflect the need to solve the parking problems, rather than income generation.
There are two separate problems here , one is the appalling selfish and dangerous behaviour of some drivers and the second is the need for adequate parking for residents , workers and visitors. Whilst the issues are linked they are different and we need solutions to both , the first through a mix of enforcement and education , and the second through a proper understanding of demand/supply re parking spaces. For, example I never have a problem during the day finding legal parking spaces for a couple of hours to drop in at my office in london road , a whole day would be difficult or costly ....
The car parks at the times mentioned are empty. Co-op / Waitrose & the Festival Hall are all a short walk but under used. Festival Hall in particular is empty most of the time – 2pm Saturday afternoon, peak time for everyone else, one van which looked like it was left overnight. I have lived here 10 years and never once at any time of the day or night not been able to park in the village.
It has become acceptable by some to park or hover on double yellows for an extended amount of time. This is the issue; people do not want to walk. They would rather take their chances with a parking fine.
We have a severe lack of enforcement to the point where it was deemed worthy for the police to issue a press release for the one ticket to an ex-counsellor. A press release for a parking ticket – that says it all.
Issue on the spot fines to the bus company who parks every morning at the top of Heyes Lane – on the back of the fine, show them where they can park for free within 2 minutes walk. Do the same for the AESG mums.
Maybe then the car parks will be used and Frank will have a good reason to build his car park.
In my view providing more parking further from the centre of the Alderley will do nothing to ease the illegal and dangerous parking which can be seen on a daily basis...
Obviously those who are "enjoying" the bars and restaurants could walk but a park and ride for those with shopping bags or dodgy on their pins would be a viable option. Usual arrangement is price per car with service stopping late afternoon. The out of village location could be Compulsory Purchased Agricultural land. The in Village location could be achieved by taking some of the Parade parking spaces...
Taken from The Highway Code:
"1. Waiting and parking (238)
238
You MUST NOT wait or park on yellow lines during the times of operation shown on nearby time plates (or zone entry signs if in a Controlled Parking Zone) – download ‘Traffic signs’ (PDF, 486KB) and ‘Road markings’ (PDF, 731KB). Double yellow lines indicate a prohibition of waiting at any time even if there are no upright signs. You MUST NOT wait or park, or stop to set down and pick up passengers, on school entrance markings (download ‘Road markings’ (PDF, 731KB)) when upright signs indicate a prohibition of stopping.
Law RTRA sects 5 & 8"
Does forcing a 2 way/ bi-directional carriageway into a single lane count as contravening?
So you can't sit in the car waiting on yellow lines, but you are allowed to stop and drop off or pick up people, even on double-yellows, unless there is a separate restriction on loading.
See this document from the direct-gov website: http://bit.ly/15v8zsV
Vin