Parked cars spark safety concerns (From Craven Herald)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting CHNEWS to 80360, or email
Councils looking at concerns over parking on Broughton Road, Skipton
10:20am Friday 27th January 2012 in Skipton & District
Roadworks and an increased number of cars parking on a busy Skipton street are combining to cause traffic chaos, motorists say.
And fears have been raised somebody could be killed or seriously hurt unless something is done about the problems on Broughton Road.
Traffic was brought to a complete standstill in rush hour last week, leaving many drivers stuck in queues for lengthy periods.
In recent weeks, dozens of motorists have begun parking along the road and it has been claimed many of the cars belong to council staff, as the trend began after the new council headquarters were opened at Belle Vue Square.
Motorist Anthony Rishton said it took an “unbelievable” 40 minutes last Wednesday morning to get from Central Tyres on Broughton Road to Keighley Road.
“There were numerous impasses due to cars parked and the narrowing of the road under Carleton New Road bridge. Buses could not pass lorries.
“Do the council really want to have cars damaged, crashes, or people injured? Where is their duty to safety and free access?
“Move the cars before someone is injured or there is a serious crash.”
He added the problem had been intensified by roadworks on Broughton Road, which he felt should have been delayed until after rush hour.
In a separate incident, Skipton resident John Askham said he was left “physically trembling” after a close encounter with a supermarket lorry on Broughton Road and he has been frustrated by a lack of response from the authorities.
Because of the cars parked down one side of the street, Mr Askham said there was almost no room for the lorry to squeeze between his vehicle and those parked on the opposite side.
“I pulled in my wing mirrors and drove onto the pavement, but I still didn’t think there was any way the lorry could get through.
“It must have taken 12 to 15 minutes for him to get past. In all my years of driving, I’ve never been as scared. By the time I got home I was physically trembling.
“I’ve contacted the council and police, but I’ve got nowhere so far.”
A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council said: “North Yorkshire County Council is aware of concerns about parking issues in the area and is working in partnership with Craven District Council to see if there are any steps which could be taken to address those concerns.”
Comments(8)
bugjam
says...
7:13pm Fri 27 Jan 12
AlliG
says...
7:47pm Fri 27 Jan 12
Its also took me 30 mins to get to work last week because of the council putting a crossing in at that time in a morning. I dont understand why as there was already and crossing island there ... oh yeah we know why its for there staff.
Also i believe its not just the council staff who are parking there, there are the other companies Medac's etc., and also the staff who work for HLM who get picked up from around there by there shuttle bus to then be taken to work up gargrave road as they dont have the parking spaces there !! one **** up after another
annoyed59
says...
8:13am Sat 28 Jan 12
John Civis
says...
10:28am Sat 28 Jan 12
It is patently obvious to most folk, but not to Knowles-Fitton,that much of the traffic congestation is due to the lack of car-parks for the CDC staff.
Some tewlve years or so ago Booths wanted to build a supermarket in Settle; a study into the impact of shoppers' cars on the local environment had to be carried out - resulting in the CDC insisting that Booths should build an enormous car-park, which in turn robbed Settle foilk of much of the only public playing field in the town..
I would challenge Coun Knowles-Fitton if he is reading this email,to supply me with a copy of the revised regulations that permit large scale office developments in town centressuch as Belle Vue Mills, without having to provide adequate on-site parking.
As Knowles -Fitton is well aware, there were other, less costly solutions, to the CDC'c accommodation problems that also had the bonus of having more than adequate car-parking on site. Why did the Council not adopt such a solution.
A possible consequence of the traffic congestation in Broughton Road is that shoppers, just to avoid the gross inconvenience and waste of their time, will stop using the local shops, leading to a downturn in those business' fortunes and possible their failure.
In that event I sincerely hope that their owners will take the Council to task...and to Court.
ZoidbergDR
says...
8:58am Mon 30 Jan 12
AlliG wrote:HML can park at sandylands for free. Alot of the parking problems over the years have been caused by HML staff but i am afraid this one has not been.
I have lived down Broughton Road for 30yrs and this is the worst traffic ive ever seen down here.
Its also took me 30 mins to get to work last week because of the council putting a crossing in at that time in a morning. I dont understand why as there was already and crossing island there ... oh yeah we know why its for there staff.
Also i believe its not just the council staff who are parking there, there are the other companies Medac's etc., and also the staff who work for HLM who get picked up from around there by there shuttle bus to then be taken to work up gargrave road as they dont have the parking spaces there !! one **** up after another
legalpeap
says...
5:30pm Tue 31 Jan 12
I was using the bus to go to Barnoldswick for the latter part of October and noticed the parking in a morning. However it seems to have got worse since I started going down the road in December.
At this rate all of Skipton's streets are going to have double yellow lines so that residents can't park in front of their own homes. (Then again you could then get me started on people who have garages but don't use them to put a car in and park on the street instead.)
Lynn@fearoffish
says...
9:45pm Thu 2 Feb 12
John Civis says...
11:31am Fri 27 Jan 12
The CDC's move to Belle Vue MIlls, with its lack of car-parking spaces for staff was a catastrophe designed to happen. Coun. K-Fitton will not worry too much as he no doubt has one of the very few allocated parking places.