A number of initiatives and schemes have been identified in the Wilmslow Parking Review Final Report which was published today (Wednesday, 4th March) to be taken forward to support the delivery of a long term parking strategy for Wilmslow.
It is recommended that the three short term measures to take forward imminently are:
- Development of a business case to develop Broadway Meadows into a multi deck car park to address the issues of long stay parking provision;
- Alderley Road traffic management and parking restrictions from Coach and Four to King's Arms Roundabout; and
- Detail design for localised parking management schemes as identified which would not be seen as detrimental to parking in Wilmslow.
A number of medium term parking schemes have also been identified to support parking management in Wilmslow.
Following the outcome of the business case for Broadway Meadows; if there is a case for adding capacity for long stay parking a programme for delivery of these medium term schemes should be developed to deliver them in the correct sequence required to support a successful outcome for Wilmslow and its surrounding area.
In total 47 measures have been identified which have been categorised as Short (Under 12 months), Medium (1-3 years) Long (3+ years) opportunities.
- Decking on Broadway Meadow M/L
- The Carrs – provides some additional spaces for long-stay, pricing could be brought in line with other car parks S/M
- Hawthorn Lane – review number of parking bays S/M
- Church Street - review number of parking bays S/M
- Alderley Road – double yellow lines from Coach and Four to King's Arms Roundabout S
- Buckingham Road – parking bays allow parking between 8.30 – 5pm Mon to Fri – short-stay S/M
- Buckingham Road – Double yellow lines at junction of Eastward Road, Westward and Cambridge Avenue S/M
- Gravel Lane – double yellow lines at the junction of Gravel Lane/Knutsford Road S
- Knutsford Road – phased double yellow lines S/M
- Bedells Lane – double yellow lines where they are currently missing S/M
- Altrincham Road – shortstay parking bays 8.30 – 5pm from Hawthorn Walk to the start of residential housing (outside of the shops) S/M
- Manchester Road – add double yellow lines where they are missing from the roundabout to the bus stop opposite Styal Road S/M
- Cliff Road – permits for houses no. 2-10 S/M
- Cliff Road – bollards /railings to prevent parking on pavement outside of the park M
- Bourne Street – Double Yellow lines at the junctions of Westward Road, Simpson Street and Windsor Av. S
- Bourne Street – double yellow lines on one side and short-stay parking bays on the other side. 8.30 – 5pm Mon-Fri – short-stay S/M
- Nursery Lane – extend double yellows at Nursery Lane/ Gravel Lane junction and Beechway junction S
- Stoney Lane – single yellow line restricting parking MonFri 8.30-5pm S/M
- South Oak Lane – shortstay parking bays near the field and double yellow lines for the remainder of the road S/M
- Parkway - improve enforcement S
- Nightingale Close - extend yellow lines at Lacey Green junction and single yellow lines in front of the shop allowing for deliveries etc. S
- Leaside Way - double yellow lines at Prestbury Road junction S
- Beech Lane – double yellow lines S/M
- Lindfield Estate North – double yellow lines at junction between Beech Lane until the houses start S/M
- Alma Lane – double yellow lines along the road/ residential permits S/M
- Pownall Road – double yellow lines at junction with Carrwood Road S
- Old Road – residential permits/ extend double yellow lines at the junction S/M
- River Street – residential permits S/M
- Station Road – increased enforcement within the area S
- Chapel Lane - double yellow lines or shortstay parking. H-Bar for Wilmslow United Reform Church S/M
- Hough Lane – double yellow lines at junction (roundabout) S
- Macclesfield Road - extend/ re-paint double yellow lines from Hough Lane junction to Daveylands junction S/M
- New Street / Moor Lane junction – double yellow lines at junction S
- Northward Road – double yellow lines at junction with Oak Lane. Single yellow line restricting 8-5pm Mon-Fri or resident parking permits S/M
- Oak Lane – single yellows or residential parking only. Double yellow lines needed near the roundabout at Racecourse Road S/M
- Oaklands Close Estate / Handforth Road junction – double yellow lines S/M
- Park Crescent / Twinnies Road junctions – double yellow lines at the junctions, greater enforcement S
- Ringstead Drive – double yellow or single yellow line from Dean Row Road junction S/M
- Torkington Road / Hough Lane junction – double yellow lines, potential to add double yellow lines along Hough Lane S/M
- Westward Road – double yellows at Northward Road junction, Buckingham Road junction, South Close junction and Bourne Street. Potential to add short-stay bays 8.30 – 5pm along Westward Road Mon-Fri S/M
- Windsor Avenue – double yellows need repainting at junction with Bourne Street. Potential to introduce single yellow line along the road restricting parking 8-5pm Mon-Fri S/M
- Lacey Green / Barlow Road – extend double yellow lines at junction and at the opposite side of the road S
- Lacey Green – short-stay parking bays 8.30 – 5pm Mon-Fri M
- Hill Top Avenue- single yellow line that prohibits parking 8.30 – 5pm Mon-Fri M
- Copperfields / Manchester Road – double yellow lines at junction S
- Bridgefield Avenue / Manchester Road – double yellow lines at junction – introduce some shortstay parking bays for 8.30 – 5pm Mon-Fri short-stay on Bridgefield Avenue S/M
- Ashdean Road – double yellow lines at junctions with Gravel Lane / Knutsford Road, and more enforcement S
- Poplar Avenue – double yellow lines at the junction with Gravel Lane and more enforcement S
- Newlands Drive – double yellow lines at the junction with Gravel Lane S
- Third Parties look to provide parking – eg. Hawthorn Lane and South Street, Alderley Edge
Cllr David Jefferay said "It's taken some time to get finished but I think this report is the first real milestone on the journey to reverse Wilmslow's parking problems.
"It's not perfect and it doesn't contain a silver bullet that will solve problems overnight that have been decades in the making. I recognise too that not everyone will be happy because, with so many streets in Wilmslow with parking issues, not all could realistically be included in the short to medium term plan.
"However, in my opinion, what it does is provide the evidence that there is a problem rather than it just being anecdotal and I think it does target the big hitters that need to be prioritised."
He added "The work has already started on the high priority items with funding approved for the design phase of the new multi storey car park and residents should see the yellow lines appearing on Alderley Road in the coming weeks."
Share your views on the proposals to solve the parking problem in Wilmslow via the comment box below.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
I live on a street which already has restrictions, double yellow, single yellow and 2 hour restrictions, but because it isn't properly monitored, cars and vans can and do park all day (Monday-Friday) without any signs of traffic wardens.
Wilmslow has a major problem I don't think there is a one solution which fits all, multi story car parking is a solution but there will always be some people who say why should I pay to go in car park when I can park in some streets which are being properly managed and not cost me anything. Our high street is really struggling, is it because customers can't find somewhere to park for a couple of hours? I think all these office blocks which have been granted planning permission but surely going forward these types of builds can't be allowed in the future unless they can show that they will provide more than enough car parking spaces for the number of people working in these establishments i.e Underground.
I notice that there is reasonable amounts of short term parking at 'Sainsbury' Council car park and also the behind the Rex/Hooper but people seem very keen not to pay 70p for the same time. I don't believe this would be tolerated in, say, Macclesfied without using the official car parks.
On the face of it there seems to be an "overspill" of taxis from Wilmslow Station parking in several locations until there is space for them outside the station; this prevents others from using short-stay parking bays. have CEC granted too many licences, or should these taxis be using other Taxi-ranks, e.g. outside Waitrose or The Rex?
Was the occupancy level of the "reserved" spaces for the "Jones" offices at spring street multi-storey car-park monitored during the review?
Was parking at the almost dis-used Police station yard considered as part of the review?
Why is CEC so reluctant to issue Resident Permits (and vouchers for their visitors)?
South Close is will be even worse, as it is very much narrower. The bin lorry regularly fails to get up here to empty the bins as it is! This whole road should have double yellow lines or residents only parking all round.
Giving people exclusive use of a community resource feels quite contentious.
I also agree with the comments about public transport. I am genuinely interested to know if any kind of review/survey has been carried out so that the decision makers are armed with the relevant facts - e.g. where do the workers who drive to Wilmslow come from and are they served with the public transport system they need in order to get them out of their cars.
Finally - it would be good to see an end to the countless unofficial cones all over Wilmslow.
Couldn’t something be done together with the Handforth proposal?
And what is ‘ Third parties look to provide parking eg Hawthorn Lane and South Street’? The planning application for a 90 space contract car park within the Hawthorn Lane residential conservation area is totally inappropriate. I can’t believe that it is something that should even be included in a review
With 150 objections from local residents there's obviously a really strong sense of how wrong it would be to place a 90 space contract car park in the Hawthorn Lane conservation area.
Leaside way is a prime example, with students and staff from Wilmslow High School parking irresponsibly near to junctions and bends in the road , and double parking without consideration for large delivery , refuse collection , Fire Appliances and other maintenance vehicles requiring access to Glenside Drive which is in a cul-de-sac situation , we have already had a problem with access into and out of the development due to a fire in a property at the beginning of Leaside Way resulting in the access being blocked by a Fire Appliance dealing with the fire and having to operate between parked cars .
This situation could easily be resolved by implementing resident only parking or dare I say it , Yellow lines !
Although we applaud any action to improve the situation, we do feel that yellow lines plus Resident Permits would be a more acceptable answer, as some houses have limited parking or none at all.
So, build park&ride or park&walk sites either side of the by-pass outside the High School, then ban all parking over 3 or 4 hours within the whole of Wilmslow except for residents. Job done.
So you'd prioritise people who mostly live within walking distance of Wilmslow's car parks over people who come from further away?
I'm not really in agreement with residents only parking (why should a community asset we've all paid for be for the exclusive use of one?) but I suppose if it was priced appropriately reflecting the true commercial cost of private parking then this could aid funding infrastructure improvements in the town.
Firstly, parking provision in the town should be primarily for residents. Secondly, through traffic should be diverted where possible to use the bypass networks. Most importantly commuters both incoming and outgoing and visitors need to be provided with out of centre parking facilities combined with very frequent shuttle bus services to operate the Handforth, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge corridor.
Parking provision, public transport, safety, congestion, pollution and climate change need to be viewed as part of the same problem. Approaching these issues piecemeal will not achieve what we all want - a better lifestyle for all Wilmslow residents and a vibrant welcoming town centre for visitors and residents alike.