Narrow Streets Parking
Latest News - August 2010
The Roads and Traffic Authority has given approval for Council to investigate footpath parking in association with 10km/h Shared Zones in additional streets as an extension of the existing trial.
Council has approved footpath parking and 10km/h Shared Zones in the following streets:
- York Place, Rozelle
- Simmons Street, Balmain East
The work required to upgrade these streets will be undertaken in the coming months including linemarking, signposting, installation of rubber speed cushions and street tree planting where applicable.
A number of other narrow streets are currently under investigation and being designed. Further consultation will be carried out for these streets. Once approved, these streets will be added to the website.
Latest News - March 2010
Council has received a response which is detailed below from the Minister for Transport and Roads to the 3 questions raised by Council in November 2009 regarding parking in Narrow streets.
Item 1
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That there be large parking bays that delineate the legal area to park that can take multiple cars to cater for various size cars and motor bikes
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The current NSW Road Rules 2008 do not specify that a parking bay must be marked to accommodate a single vehicle. Accordingly, a parking bay may be large enough to cater for multiple cars and motor bikes. However, these vehicles must be parked wholly within the bay. Therefore, should Leichhardt Council decide to adopt large parking bays, the council should inform residents of this arrangement and erect appropriate ‘Park in Bays Only’ signs at regular intervals.
Item 2 - To explore any changes to traffic speeds for a Shared Zone i.e. increasing from 10 km/h to 20 km/h
Leichhardt Council’s proposal to explore the possibility of increasing the speed limit of ‘shared zones’ to 20 km/h is not supported. A shared zone is designed to be safely used by pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicle drivers and to be a public space for people rather than a single purpose area primarily for motor vehicles. I am advised that under the current NSW Speed Zoning Guidelines, the only approved speed limit for a shared zone is 10 km/h.
The reason for the 10 km/h speed is to ensure drivers travel at a speed that enables them to make eye contact with pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers, and decide when it is safe to proceed. An increase in speed limits within a shared zone would increase the risk to pedestrians and the severity of any crash, and a 20 km/h speed limit would be against the key principles of a shared zone.
Item 3 -
That the RTA support amending legislation to allow residents to park across their own driveway in narrow streets via a resident parking permit scheme to be administered by Council.
I am advised that the RTA cannot support ammending legislation to allow residents to park across the driveway to their property because of access and safety reasons in emergency situations. It would also create difficulty in enforcement at driveways to multi-tenant dwellings. The issue of allowing parking across driveways has been raised and considered at national level by the Australian Road Rules Maintenance Group and rejected for the above reasons.
Furthermore on narrow footways, the free space in front of driveways can be used to allow two wheelchairs or people with prams to pass each other.
I understand that you also wrote to the RTA on this matter. It would be appreciated if this letter could be accepted as a reply to that approach.
Latest News - February 2010
Council at its meeting held on 24th November 2009 considered a Notice of Motion following the public meeting held in Balmain Town Hall on 16th November 2009 and resolved as follows:
That the Mayor writes to the Local Member, the Minister for Roads, and the CEO of the RTA advising that Council seeks clarification as to whether they can present the following as options to residents:
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That there be large parking bays that delineate the legal area to park that can take multiple cars to cater for various size cars and motor bikes.
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To explore any changes to traffic speeds for a shared zone i.e. increasing from 10 km/h to 20 km/h.
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That the RTA support amending legislation to allow residents to park across their own driveway in narrow streets via a resident parking permit scheme to be administered by Council.
The following additional information was provided by Council offices relating to the 3 items detailed in the Council resolution:
Item 1
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That there be large parking bays that delineate the legal area to park that can take multiple cars to cater for various size cars and motor bikes
.
Council officers discussed this issue with the RTA who advised that multiple cars can legally park in a large parking bay, subject to it not being in a metered parking area. Council requested a formal reply on this matter and reiterated to the RTA the general public concern regarding the single parking bays option due to the significant loss of parking which would occur if this approach was adopted.
Item 2 - To explore any changes to traffic speeds for a Shared Zone i.e. increasing from 10 km/h to 20 km/h
It is understood that 20 km/h Shared Zones are permitted in Victoria and similar speed limits in European cities where vehicles and pedestrians share the road space. A 10 km/h speed limit is appropriate in a short section of road where Shared Zones were originally installed in NSW; however, some of the Shared Zones in Leichhardt are long sections of road where it is physically impossible and unachievable for motorists to drive at this speed. While pedestrian safety in these areas is of paramount importance, subject literature suggests that the major increase in fatal crashes involving pedestrians occurs at an impact speed of 35 km/h with only minor increase in fatal crashes occurring between impact speeds of 10 km/h and 20 km/h.
Item 3 -
That the RTA support amending legislation to allow residents to park across their own driveway in narrow streets via a resident parking permit scheme to be administered by Council.
A considerable increase in parking capacity could be achieved in narrow streets in the Leichhardt LGA by permitting residents to park across their own driveway. This would increase parking capacity significantly without impacting on traffic.
Each space across a driveway would need to be defined as its own Resident Parking Zone in order to restrict other vehicles from parking across the driveway. Only the occupier of the residential dwelling could park across the driveway subject to them being provided with a permit. This would more than likely need to occur by installing signs ‘No Parking Authorised Residents Vehicles Excepted”.
Following Council’s resolution a letter was forwarded to the RTA, Minister for Roads and the Local Member regarding the 3 items detailed above. Council is awaiting a response.
Latest News November 2009
A public meeting was held on Monday 16th November 2009 at Balmain Town Hall with Councillor Stamolis, Councillor Weiss and more than 50 residents in attendance. At the meeting Council officers presented information on the background to the Narrow Streets and Footpath Parking Program, reasons and options for implementing this program and how the Community Consultation will be undertaken.
download full version of presentation (72 slides)
Narrow Streets Public Meeting 16 November 2009 - Full Presentation version (2.56MB)
download summary version of presentation (22 slides)
Narrow Streets Public Meeting 16 November 2009 - Presentation summary (325.73kB)
If you have any further queries regarding narrow streets parking after reading the presentations and Frequesntly Asked Queastions below, please send an email to footpathparking@lmc.nsw.gov.au or call (02) 9367 9222.
FAQs (26.50kB) Full Version
NARROW STREETS AND FOOTPATH PARKING FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
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SHORT VERSION
What is a
Narrow Street
?
A Narrow Street is a road where on road parking on one or both sides of the road restricts the free movement of vehicles (especially emergency and service vehicles) along the road. The width of the road is a maximum 7.2 metres from kerb to kerb. Some Narrow Streets are proposed to incorporate Footpath Parking.
What is Footpath Parking?
Footpath Parking is a legal form of parking where a vehicle parks partly on the street and partly on the footpath in a marked bay.
When will the new parking arrangements be implemented and what consultation will take place?
Council will be preparing plans for each street and informing residents of the plan by letter in the near future detailing signposting, linemarking and street tree planting and providing residents with an opportunity to comment on the proposed plan for each street. A Council staff member will also be available to meet on site to discuss details of the plan. It is important for residents to note that pedestrian safety needs are paramount in any proposed scheme and that the proposed parking scheme may not provide the same number of spaces as per the current illegal parking behaviour which exists.
Why not leave the parking in my streets as it is currently. Cars parked on the footpath have never caused an issue in our street?
It is illegal to park on the footpath and it is important to note that pedestrian safety and amenity needs to be maintained. A clear travel lane also needs to be maintained for emergency service access. For example if there is a fire, a fire truck needs a clear and unobstructed path to access your property to deliver water to the fire and to facilitate the provision of services and equipment to fire fighters.
Is my street considered a
Narrow Street
?
More than 30 streets are currently defined by Council as ‘Narrow Streets’ in the Balmain, Balmain East, Rozelle and Birchgrove areas.
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FAQS
ON
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