A joint effort by SKDC Cllr Charmaine Morgan, local residents and local schools is underway to tackle the issue of on street parking blocking Sandon Road at school pick up and drop off times.
Cllr Morgan said: ‘There is mounting evidence that at peak times Sandon Road and also Sandon Close are being blocked by vehicles parked, despite existing Traffic Regulations/yellow lines being in place.
This is not only slowing buses and emergency vehicles it is also causing a hazard to pedestrians, especially children in the area.
In Sandon Close buses and ambulances have been unable to reach the sheltered housing scheme with parents from both St Mary’s School and KGGS parking there. In a recent emergency the ambulance had to park on Sandon Road with the eambulance crew having to assist the patient all the way down Sandon Close. This caused considerable delay and distress to the patient concerned.
We spent a lot of time to design the parking regulations in Sandon Close when I was the LCC Councillor for Grantham South to prevent the road being blocked but the regulations in place need enforcement.
We have approached LCC Highways and Road Safety Partnership to increase warden patrols in the Sandon Close and Sandon Road vicinity. I have also raised the matter with SKDC Cllr Cleaver to see if some support for parents needing to park can be provided by SKDC. One proposal is to provide short term free parking in nearby Welham Street Car Park, to encourage parents to park safely whilst waiting for their children.
Cllr Richard Cleaver has confirmed SKDC is undergoing a review of Car Parking charges this year and this request will be considered. I have been calling for a first hour Free Parking in Grantham for many years and believe this would really help.
It is always going to be difficult to tackle parking near schools but the safety of our children and wider community must come first. The issue is mainly at school drop off or pick up time when parents come early and have parked for as long as 30 minutes on the yellow lines.
There are issues elsewhere too, for example near St Anne’s School. I will discuss these with the Road Safety Partnership as well. But, we cannot have main routes such as Sandon Road blocked. This matter needs resolving before someone is seriously injured, is killed, or dies due to the delay caused’.
We look forward to working further with LCC and SKDC representatives to help resolve this matter and wish to thank all who have provided supporting evidence, including Centrebus.’
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.