Briefing Note on Pavement and Verge Parking

MIDDLESBROUGH COUNCIL

EXECUTIVE REPORT

Pavement and Verge Parking

Executive Member for Streetscene and Transport Services: Councillor Nicky Walker

Executive Director of Neighbourhood and Communities: Kevin Parkes

9 October 2012

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

1.  To consider a process to respond to the demand for the provision or regulation of parking in residential areas.

To recommend an approach that categorises parking requests and a system of prioritisation of any resultant actions.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

2.  To agree the regularised approach to dealing with requests for parking interventions.

To agree the method of prioritisation of requests that once assessed require funding to implement

IF THIS IS A KEY DECISION WHICH KEY DECISION TEST APPLIES?

DECISION IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE

4.  For the purposes of the scrutiny call in procedure this report is

BACKGROUND AND EXTERNAL CONSULTATION

5.  There are a significant number of issues raised by the public regarding the impact of parking on their daily lives. A large proportion of these arise from the growth in car ownership within residential streets, which were not designed for today’s traffic demands. Although there are incidences of frustration and annoyance from inconsiderate parking practices the Council have no powers to intervene in these circumstances. The purpose of this report is to agree a methodology to address problems concerning road safety, accessibility for emergency services and buses and areas of damage to either grass verges or footways as a result of the regular occurrence of parked vehicles.

6.  A separate report outlining the approach for dealing with illegal crossings has, through the scrutiny process, been approved by the Executive on the 24th April 2012 and thus is not covered in this report.

7.  The following issues or requests are received regarding footpath and verge parking, through a number of sources including One Stop Shop, CRM’s, e-mail, letter, corporate complaints, Mayor, Chief Executive and Director issues;

·  Residents parking partly or fully on footpath/verges in residential streets causing obstruction, damage, access difficulties, road safety issues, neighbour disputes, general annoyance.

·  Non-residents parking partly or fully on footpath/verges in residential streets causing obstruction, damage, access difficulties, road safety issues, neighbour disputes, general annoyance.

·  Commercial vehicles parking partly or fully on footpath/verges in residential streets causing obstruction, damage, access difficulties, road safety issues, neighbour disputes, general annoyance.

·  Vehicles parking partly or fully on footpath/verges in non-residential streets causing obstruction, damage, access difficulties, road safety issues, neighbour disputes, general annoyance.

·  Vehicles parking partly or fully on shared surfaces or within service strips causing obstruction, damage, access difficulties, road safety issues, neighbour disputes, general annoyance.

·  Vehicles parked on footpath/verges advertised for sale.

·  Delivery and Servicing vehicles parking on footpaths and verges around shopping or commercial areas causing obstruction, damage, access difficulties, road safety issues, neighbour disputes, general annoyance.

·  Requests for bollards in the footway, bollards or knee rail in the verge, verge hardening, provision of new or additional parking bays, new or additional parking restrictions.

8.  it is proposed to take a systematic approach to considering complaints or requests for service. The process will recommend one of three outcomes either prevention, accommodation or no action.

9.  It is proposed that when dealing with requests of this nature the following example decision tree will be used:

Yes

No

Options for accommodation or prevention

10.  If through the assessment process it is derived that parking can and should be accommodated within the existing highway boundary then the following options will be investigated and a short list of options put to residents to consider their preferred method of accommodation. Such measures include:

·  Provision of parking bays

·  Strengthen existing footway

·  Strengthen/pave/existing verge

.

11.  If however the assessment process determines that due to constraints that parking should be prevented or regulated then similarly options will be derived and residents consulted on the preferred method. At this stage consideration needs to be taken regarding the impact of any displaced parking and the level of resources available to effectively enforce any new regulations.

Options include:

·  Introduce new waiting restrictions

·  Report to local neighbourhood policing team

·  Introduce local pavement parking ban

·  Provide pavement crossings

·  Edge treatment – bollards, knee rail, barriers, planting

·  Advisory road markings

·  Mediation

12.  On an annual basis both the schemes for accommodation and prevention will be prioritised to match the funding available. It is proposed from 2013 –2014 financial year to allocate £100,000 form the Local Transport Plan to start to address these issues of concern to residents of the borough. It is likely that in the early years of this initiative that there will be an over subscription of requests compared to available budget. Thus a method of prioritising the requests needs to be established.

13.  A scoring method is proposed based on weighted points covering the following areas:

·  Road Safety

·  Road Width

·  On street capacity

·  Off street capacity

·  Road hierarchy

·  Degree of existing damage

·  Proximity to local Amenity (presence of school, shops etc)

1.  Road Safety

Evidence of accident history

Score

2.  Accessibility

Effective Road Width

Score

3.  Street capacity

Parking available

within 20m of

problem location

4.  Availability of off street parking (i.e. frontage >4.5m deep)

Off street parking

5.  Category of Road

Type of Road

Score

6.  Visible Damage to footpath/verge

7.  Presence of local amenity (school, shops, doctors etc)

8.  Complaint history

Complaint history

9.  factor to be applied to account for presence of mobility impaired resident/s = 1.5

Once the points scoring is completed then costed options will be derived and a value for money calculation undertaken, i.e. cost / points scored. This will then enable a prioritised list of works for the forthcoming year.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT

14.  An impact assessment has been carried out and an assessment criterion added into the scoring matrix to account for the aggravated problems encountered by mobility impaired residents.

FINANCIAL, LEGAL AND WARD IMPLICATIONS

Financial

15.  An allocation form the Local Transport Plan will be secured on an annual basis when considered against other transport priorities. For 2013/2014, this is provisionally set at £100,000.

Ward Implications

16.  Many ward areas are affected by problems associated with parked vehicles and thus positive benefits from tackling the local issues will be gained

Legal Implications

17.  Depending on the type of action taken there may be legal input into processing traffic regulation or parking orders as required.

RECOMMENDATIONS

18.  To approve the process to respond to the demand for the provision or regulation of parking in residential areas.

19.  To approve a system of prioritisation of any resultant actions.

REASONS

20.  Parking can cause both road safety risks and structural or environmental damage. By rationalising the approach to tackling requests from residents for action, a progressive improvement to local conditions can be achieved.

BACKGROUND PAPERS

21.  No background papers were used in the preparation of this report:

AUTHOR: Derek Gittins

TEL NO: 728636

______

Address:

Website: http://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk

Impact Assessment Level 1: Initial screening assessment

[*] Consult the Impact Assessment further guidance appendix for details on the issues covered by each of theses broad questions prior to completion.