Yellow lines being considered on Medway estate to tackle congestion

New parking restrictions could be coming to a busy industrial estate regularly gridlocked with motorists queuing to get to and from work in order to curb congestion.

Medway Council is looking to install new single and double yellow lines around the Medway City Estate in Strood and has consulted on the measure in a bid to improve road safety.

However, many businesses say it’s already a “free-for-all” despite restrictions and there is too much pressure for parking, amid fears the new rules will further drive away their customers.

The council believes heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) parking along Sir Thomas Longley Road, Whitewall Road and Whitewall Way are putting motorists at risk by effectively turning two-way traffic into a single lane.

This forces drivers into the other lane and on-coming traffic.

They also believe HGVs parked too close to junctions are reducing visibility, potentially putting people at “greater risk” of an accident.

It’s prompted the local authority to look into extending double yellow line restrictions on the roads, meaning vehicles won’t be allowed to park there in the afternoons around rush hour.

Motorists traveling on and off the city estate often face long stretches of traffic during these busy periods and the council says the new restrictions would go someway towards easing congestion and getting drivers moving again.

But some businesses say the changes could just add to their woes as cars and HGVs are forced to park as they do due to lack of parking space currently available.

Ollie Nicholls, who has had a tattoo parlour in Box City on the estate for the past year, says customers already struggle – meaning often they’re late or have damaged their cars.

He said: “The industrial estate is a bit of a free-for-all, because there’s so many businesses here, and there’s just not enough parking.

“Also because it is quite busy and the high influx of clients coming and going, I’ve seen a few people here dink each other’s cars.”

The tattooist adds the traffic is such a constant problem he often doesn’t bother to try to leave for more than an hour after finishing work.

He continued: “Sometimes if I do finish at five, I’ll still knock around here for like an hour, hour and a half just because I know if I leave, I’m going to get stuck.

“I mean, even yesterday I left around five-ish and just me getting out of the estate, I think it was about 45 minutes, 50 minutes to move about 500 yards.”

Harpal Cheema runs a newsagent on Sir Thomas Longley Road and believes the traffic means customers avoid coming to his shop in the evenings – and has even pushed other businesses out of the estate.

He said: “I think it does put people off coming in because people don’t want to lose their place in the traffic, they just want to get on.

“If there wasn’t a queue, I’m quite sure I’ll have a few customers sort of stopping off and then coming into the shop.

“It’s quite a popular topic to chat about, about getting off the estate, and I know there’s a lot of companies that have actually left the estate because of traffic in the evenings, because they’re fed up with it.”

Scotline, a shipping company, has a terminal on Sir Thomas Longley Road and says the parking problems are due to a lack of planning when the city estate was first created.

It said: “There is a generic parking and traffic management problem on Medway City Estate which is symptomatic of the lack of planning when the estate was created, with parking and manoeuvring areas now being either repurposed or used for car parking.

“HGV’s and commercial vehicles regularly park up on the estate overnight in positions which become unsuitable when businesses open in the morning.

“This causes knock-on effects for vehicles legitimately trying to access businesses, which has only become worse during the 30 years we’ve been on the estate.

“If new parking restrictions are introduced on the estate, where will the vehicles (be it HGV’s, vans, visitors or staff cars) park for the stake holders?

“Most roads on the estate are already double parked which disrupts companies’ traffic management systems and new restrictions in other parts of the estate haven’t necessarily improved issues or changed behaviour.”

The council’s portfolio holder for community safety, highways and enforcement, Cllr Alex Paterson (Lab) says the authority’s priority must be safety first.

He said: “Where we can act we will. This is a response to a real issue which has been raised by businesses and by people who work on the Medway City Estate.

“We’re in a position to have this traffic regulation order to prevent that dangerous parking by HGVs which is in some cases obstructing junctions, it’s also forcing people into the other side of the road, obstructing views and potentially putting people at greater risk of an accident.

“If it’s the choice between making things slightly less convenient for individual businesses or individuals who have previously been able to park where they please versus making things safer for all road users, I will always err on the side of safety.”

Cllr Patterson added he encouraged businesses which were struggling for space on the city estate to speak with the council about possible other sites around Medway which could better accommodate them.

The consultation took place between September 7 and September 27 and council officers are now considering responses