Studley and Yarra Streets

Studley and Yarra Streets are narrow east-west streets in Abbotsford.

Parking on the footpath

On Yarra Street, east of Nicholson, marked parking bays extend onto the footpath:

On Studley Street, cars are parked on the footpath, in the absence of marked parking bays:

Council discussion

At the 17th December 2019 council meeting, Councillors considered the option to remove parking from one side of each street, to ensure fire trucks had enough space to safely access each home on the street. Councillors resolved to consult further with the community before deciding. On Thursday 20th February 2020 Council Officers hosted a community consultation session, and clarified that:

• Fire trucks are 2.5 metres wide and need 0.5 metres of space on each side to open doors and access equipment, for a total width requirement of 3.5 metres.
• Australian Standards, Austroads guidelines and VicRoads guidelines recommend a minimum footpath width of 1.5 metres, which allows a person on a wheelchair to pass a person pushing a pram.
• Parking occupancy at 11pm on Wednesday and Saturday nights is 55-65%.

On 7th July 2020 council resolved to paint parking bays that were 1.9 metres wide to encourage drivers to park close to the kerb (not on the footpath). However, parking on the footpath continues.

Our view

We believe that people should be able to safely access every property in Yarra, irrespective of whether they choose to walk, cycle, use public transport or drive. This means that footpaths must be free for people walking, hobbling with a crutch, pushing a pram, or rolling on a wheelchair. In turn, this means an unobstructed width of at least 1.5 metres (preferably 2.0 metres) and parking only on one side of the street. That conclusion aligns with the City of Moonee Valley policy for parking on narrow streets. For example, Yarra Street is only 6.3 metres wide, which means that parking should only allowed on one side.

Further improvements

From this baseline, further improvements can be identified, including:

• Moving trees from the footpath to bump-outs in the road reserve (in between car parking bays) to increase the useable footpath width.
• Moving all poles to a consistent location near the kerb, to increase the useable footpath width. 
• Increasing the number of trees in the street, to increase shade and decrease the urban heat island effect.
• Locating sets of parking bays on alternating sides of the street, creating a chicane on the street. This would reduce the line of sight for drivers, encouraging them to slow down. In turn, this improves safety for people walking and cycling.

Read our full submission

Read our full submission:

Conclusion

Council should adopt the Officer Recommendation from the 17th December 2019 that parking should only be permitted on one side of Studley Street or Yarra Street. From this baseline, Council should consider other improvements to the street, including using parking on alternating sides to create a chicane that slows drivers, and adding more trees to bump outs in the street.

Additional improvements can also apply to the whole of Yarra, including:

• Designating all on-street parking in residential streets as permit only. 
• Increasing the price for permits to $1 per day.
• Making short term visitor parking permits available online, on demand, linked to a vehicles registration.
• Developing a Council Policy that footpaths narrower than 1.5 m should not be narrowed further.
• Developing a Council Policy for parking in narrow streets, similar to that from the City of Moonee Valley.
• Designate one parking bay on every residential street for a car sharing vehicle, to make it easier for residents to downsize the number of private cars and decrease the demand for on-street parking of private cars.
• Designate one parking bay on every residential street as a weather protected location to park up to twenty bicycles, to make it easier for residents to downsize the number of private cars and decrease the demand for on-street parking of private cars.