NINE.. Cycle parking

Case study

Romsey

In Romsey cars are regularly parked on both sides of the road, often on the pavement. Pavement parking has been permitted for some time and in some streets white lines have been painted on the pavement to delineate parking spaces leaving a gap of one metre between the car and the house.

Where wheelie bins are left on the pavement, parents with pushchairs are faced with major difficulties and are often forced to walk in the road. This system also takes no account of the need for cycle parking outside the front of people’s houses.

While almost all the street, and half the pavement as well, has been given over to the need for car parking in the area there is almost nowhere to park a bicycle. This does little to encourage cycling and needs to be eradicated. Cyclists should receive the same provision as car drivers in this area: being given convenient and secure parking spaces.

The solution here is to remove a few car parking spaces annually and install cycle racks in the freed-up space. This is a matter of both equity and encouraging people to use bicycles. Such a change should be prioritised in places where the pavement is narrow and there is insufficient space for people to walk easily.