Using traffic cones to block off parking spaces.

atilladehun

Macstuff wrote: »

On Friday, I had to visit a friend who lives in a Cul De Sac in the South Inner City. Even though the street is near the city centre, it's unmetered and a lot of city workers park there all day, blocking up parking spaces for the residents.

I used to rent in a Cul De Sac in the South Inner City that does not have metered parking. The reason it didn't it was because the residents decided they did not want to have to pay for parking outside their own home. Instead they would spend their days looking out their windows to see if people moved their cone. Every week at a certain time a group of people would come and park there so they could partake in their ritual. This would drive the residents mad. Cars have been abandoned there a number of times. Some for over a year, using up valuable parking space. I'm so happy I don't have to deal with it. I now live in a different part of the SIC with paid parking and it is wonderful. Always a space, never a cone and all for 30 euro a year.

what_traffic

atilladehun wrote: »

I now live in a different part of the SIC with paid parking and it is wonderful. Always a space, never a cone and all for 30 euro a year.

But should certain streets in our City's be "Residents Only" parking?
Then you would not even have to compete with P&D users. May not be an issue were you live but I know in areas closer to the City Centre residents have more difficulty in obtaining a space
Very common on the continent. (With and without fees)
Would also reduce traffic movements on residential streets.

n97 mini

what_traffic wrote: »

But should certain streets in our City's be "Residents Only" parking?

If some, why not all? I think there is something inherently unfair with some people getting discounted on street parking in a publicly owned space, while others that forked out for their own parking space, be it a driveway or a space in an apartment block do not.

magicbastarder

a relative used to work in the section in DCC which takes calls from people with queries about resident's parking. they get some doozies. included being threatened with legal action for refusing to supply a 'resident's' (term used advisedly) permit outside the person's place of employment.

magicbastarder

n97 mini wrote: »

If some, why not all? I think there is something inherently unfair with some people getting discounted on street parking in a publicly owned space, while others that forked out for their own parking space, be it a driveway or a space in an apartment block do not.

speaking as someone who used to live near enough to the city centre, as i mentioned earlier, one of the reasons i chose there was to dispense with the need for a car except on occasion.
that said, you have to allow that some people living in or near the city centre will have need of a car, and the question becomes one of who should you give higher priority to - them or someone driving into their area? not giving them priority is kinda an implication that someone driving there from blackrock, say, has a greater need for the use of the parking space than they do.

i don't think i'm making a good fist of explaining myself though.

also, it's worth noting that DCC hand out 20 (and i think a max of 40) visitor permits along with a residential permit - allows for one period of up to 24h parking for €1.25 - to facilitate having work done on your house, etc.

n97 mini

magicbastarder wrote: »

you have to allow that some people living in or near the city centre will have need of a car,

Arguably if they need a car they should look for accommodation which includes a parking space and not get a public space at a greatly reduced rate, which is essentially a subsidy.

Graham

n97 mini wrote: »

Arguably if they need a car they should look for accommodation which includes a parking space and not get a public space at a greatly reduced rate, which is essentially a subsidy.

I think it needs a balanced approach. The needs of the local residents needs to be considered along with those of visitors to an area. Residents parking permits is one way of achieving this.

what_traffic

n97 mini wrote: »

If some, why not all? I think there is something inherently unfair with some people getting discounted on street parking in a publicly owned space, while others that forked out for their own parking space, be it a driveway or a space in an apartment block do not.

It would depend on the function of the street. Is it 100% residentially or does it have some commercial enterprise. Since the introduction of the Local Property Tax this argument around "discounted on street parking" has been reduced.

Graham

what_traffic wrote: »

It would depend on the function of the street. Is it 100% residentially or does it have some commercial enterprise.

Good point. In predominantly residential areas I think it's entirely appropriate that most of the parking is allocated to residents.

Going back to the original post, I don't think it's at all appropriate for a resident to 'reserve' themselves a space. I was trying to think what the council could do to prevent it. The threat of removing residents parking privilege for the offending resident is about the only (imperfect) solution I could come up with.

n97 mini

what_traffic wrote: »

Since the introduction of the Local Property Tax this argument around "discounted on street parking" has been reduced.

It's not really, as we all have to pay it regardless of whether we get discounted street parking or not.

2RockMountain

Graham wrote: »

Good point. In predominantly residential areas I think it's entirely appropriate that most of the parking is allocated to residents.

I don't. Because the space is not allocated to residents. It is allocated to those residents who have a car. Those residents who cycle, and who want space for good cycle lanes are not given due consideration. It is selective use of a public asset for storage of private property.

snubbleste

I pay road tax, Joe.

Graham

2RockMountain wrote: »

I don't. Because the space is not allocated to residents. It is allocated to those residents who have a car.

You will find it's reasonably common for parking spaces to be utilised by people who have something to park.

You should consider starting a thread about converting parking spaces to cycle paths, I'd certainly be curious enough to follow that discussion.

2RockMountain

Graham wrote: »

You will find it's reasonably common for parking spaces to be utilised by people who have something to park.

You do get the point that not everyone has a car, and not every house has the same number of cars. So allocating public space for storage of private property is inherently about allocating public resources for the benefit of some people, but not all.

magicbastarder

you could say the same about the M50. it's providing public space for the benefit of owners of private vehicles.

2RockMountain

magicbastarder wrote: »

you could say the same about the M50. it's providing public space for the benefit of owners of private vehicles.

Not for storage, it's not.

magicbastarder

with all the stories i hear about the average speed on the M50 these days, the difference may be academic.

Graham

2RockMountain wrote: »

You do get the point that not everyone has a car

I'd imagine those people wouldn't be all that interested in the use of traffic cones to block off parking spaces (read opening post).

wotswattage

2RockMountain wrote: »

You do get the point that not everyone has a car, and not every house has the same number of cars. So allocating public space for storage of private property is inherently about allocating public resources for the benefit of some people, but not all.

But not everyone has a bike or cycles either so doing away with parking spaces for cycling lanes would again be benefiting some people, but not all.

I do agree 100% that we need better cycle lanes but I'm not sure the storage of private property argument would gain any traction. I'd even wager that many cyclists also have cars and parking permits (I do), and wouldn't want to give up the spaces to allow for better lanes on residential streets.

wotswattage

Going back to to the OP, I once lived on a street with several 'cone people' and had the misfortune of parking outside someone's house (they had forgotten to put the cone out) one evening. Next morning my car was boxed in by bothering their cars! The road was a very wide residential one they could double Park and still not block the road. I wasn't happy but wasn't confrontational with the neighbour - he was- as I knew I had to park on the street every night.

There is a statute dealing with willful obstruction of a car so what he did was completely against the law I had every right to call the guards but would they have any interest?!?

It's probably easier to let the cone people win lest you find a nice scratch on your car some morning. Sickening really that people can bully their way like that.

Stoner

We'd this problem.
We came up with three plans as a community and voted on it.

We had to have some spaces free for parking.

Went to the council with the agreed plan.
One side of the street to have a single yellow line no parking 7 am till 10 am Monday to Friday.
Other side free parking 24/7.

Some neighbours on the free parking side still put their cones out though, having benefited from the restrictions on the other side.
Overall it worked.

NLC1072

wotswattage wrote: »

Going back to to the OP, I once lived on a street with several 'cone people' and had the misfortune of parking outside someone's house (they had forgotten to put the cone out) one evening. Next morning my car was boxed in by bothering their cars! The road was a very wide residential one they could double Park and still not block the road. I wasn't happy but wasn't confrontational with the neighbour - he was- as I knew I had to park on the street every night.

There is a statute dealing with willful obstruction of a car so what he did was completely against the law I had every right to call the guards but would they have any interest?!?

It's probably easier to let the cone people win lest you find a nice scratch on your car some morning. Sickening really that people can bully their way like that.

I have CCTV on my car front and rear, not specifically for this but it damn well helps!!!

BuffyBot

snubbleste wrote: »

I pay road tax, Joe.

Can we please raise the level of posts above this line of drivel, or if not, simply refrain from submitting to the urge to post it?

2RockMountain

I spotted these Garda cones blocking of what looks to be an ordinary residential space on my way home tonight. So are the Gardai really blocking off this space, or did someone manage to get their hands on Garda equpment at one stage?

dulpit

2RockMountain wrote: »

I spotted these Garda cones blocking of what looks to be an ordinary residential space on my way home tonight. So are the Gardai really blocking off this space, or did someone manage to get their hands on Garda equpment at one stage?

Looks like someone borrowed cones I'd say.

Our old house had issues with parking, very narrow streets in Cork. There is a well known sweet shop by us, they used put those big bollards out to block the front of it. My wife parked one night (the bollard wasn't out) and she was followed to the house by the owner of said sweet shop, he was fuming that she parked in his spot, that's his loading bay. :rolleyes:

Garda friend of ours told us next time he did something like that we should report him, he's basically blocking public property. Seems like it's an issue around everywhere there's narrow streets or limited parking.

n97 mini

Anyone who knows Maynooth will know the Dunboyne Road has been coned for at least 15 years.

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.3830131,-6.5893847,3a,75y,263.53h,75.82t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sW7SOkZNIsGvgVrWGxN08fw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en