Saturday, July 21, 2018
PARKING ON PAVEMENTS IN BRIGG AND OTHER ISSUES
Parking vehicles on pavements in Brigg is a long-standing issue.
The other day we observed a resident complaining to a lorry driver, in his cab, about a heavy vehicle being parked partly on the pavement and partly on the road. Potential damage to the path was the thrust of the argument being made.
Later we observed a delivery van parked in Wrawby Street, on the expensive paving.
Brigg Blog followers will have seen many other instances of lorries, vans and cars being parked on pavements.
On the streets of housing estates, having two wheels on the path and two on the road is often done with good intention to avoid blocking one lane and to allow approaching vehicles to squeeze past.
But the pedestrian area is restricted to permit holders and for "loading only" when it comes to lorries and vans.
At least that's what the official signs say (see example above).
As Brigg Blog has said so many times before, we need enforcement.
If fines (fixed penalties) were dished out to drivers, and publicised, this would deter others from doing likewise. Word would soon get round.
The powers-that-be might well reckon that motorists should obey the rules. And that's correct. However, a minority of drivers, it seems, will never learn.
Brigg town centre was pedestrianised - at considerable cost to the public purse - in the mid-1990s.
The paving has lasted well in most areas but it's in every ratepayer's interest that the slabs are looked after and not damaged by heavy vehicles.
The paving won't last for ever. And when North Lincolnshire Council eventually decides it will have to be replaced, this will be expensive.
Meanwhile, the number of cyclists who ignore clear instructions to dismount when they reach the pedestrian area continues to rise.
More people take to two wheels in good weather, so that's obviously a factor at this time of year. But cycles being ridden at speed among shoppers pose obvious risks.