Double yellow lines have been approved at one of East Cowes’s busiest estates — although only after an ultimatum about a ‘road to nowhere’.
Parking will now be restricted across 53 areas of the Hawthorn Meadows and along Saunders Way.
TROs approved to increase safety
The Isle of Wight council has approved the traffic regulation orders (TRO) to increase safety around the narrow streets, ahead of the estate being adopted by the authority.
Speaking at the cabinet meeting last week, Cllr Phil Jordan said to adopt the estate, its roads must meet safety standards and having conducted a safety audit the TROs were necessary.
Love: Roads built too narrow and twisted
Cllr Karl Love, East Cowes representative, said many of the TROs may not have been necessary had the developer not built the housing estate with roads that were too narrow and twisted and with a lack of parking.
He hoped in the future, developers would ensure estates were adequately resourced.
Objections to the proposals
Objections to the proposals were received, saying there were already not enough parking spaces and the restrictions would only cause an inconvenience and knock-on effect.
The council has recognised increasing parking restrictions within the estate may result in the displacement of vehicle parking, but says they are necessary on the grounds of highway safety.
There are no plans, however, for a car park or additional spaces to be built.
Restrictions kept to a minimum
The authority said it has kept the restrictions to a minimum, to preserve as much parking as possible but has a duty to ensure road users’ safety which means it sometimes needs to prioritise safety over parking.
The yellow lines will only be put in place, the council has agreed, once Saunders Way is completely open.
Road unconnected to the official highways
The road has been in stages of construction since the estate was first built in 2011, but remains unconnected to the official highways.
It is broken up into five sections and only three have been adopted by the council as disputes remain over the last remaining sections.
The council is working with the landowners to resolve the issues but no final date has been set for it to open.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
