Report by Steve Chilton
THE city council is to spend nearly £13,000 on yellow lines to stop students and staff at Warwick University parking on the green verges of Kenilworth Road.
All-day parkers have ploughed up stretches of the grass near Gibbet Hill and caused danger to other motorists as they bump on and off the carriageway.
The university has tried to stop the practice but notices pinned to windscreens have been ignored.
Despite the obvious damage to council-owned land and the potential for traffic accidents, the local authority and police say they have not been able to prosecute because there are no signs or yellow lines present warning the motorists that parking is prohibited.
One regular user of the road, says she has been astonished by the parkers’ recklessness.
“I was stunned driving up the Kenilworth Road towards the Gibbet Hill roundabout, when a car on the opposite side of the road mounted the verge and drove down the footpath towards me trying to find a space to park that has not been completely churned up by other member of the university already parked there.”
Although the lines will be on the road the ban applies to the grass verges too. Offenders risk fines of up to £1000 and three penalty points if they are found to be causing danger.
The problem is mainly confined to a 100 metre stretch from the crest of Gibbet Hill on the Coventry-bound carriageway.
But the yellow lines will be painted along about a mile on both sides, from the Coventry border near Cryfield Grange Road to the A45 Fletchamstead Highway.
Wainbody Ward councillor Tim Sawdon welcomed the decision. He said he had received many complaints about the parkers and the decision to act was taken quickly after all the options had been discussed.
While there will be a broad welcome for the measure, some may question why the taxpayer should be footing the bill.
The parking problems around the university are not confined to Kenilworth Road. Staff and students are prepared to park up to a mile away rather than pay campus car-parking fees.
*It raises the question of whether it simply hasn’t enough spaces or is it too expensive? And has
Kenilworth Road – once described as the most attractive gateway to a city in England – taken priority because it is a high-profile prestigious route?
Residents living in Westwood Heath Road, Charter Avenue, Cannon Hill Road and many more smaller roads plagued by the uni parkers will be hoping that their concerns will be dealt with as effectively.
*The cost of the yellow lines on Kenilworth road will be £12,766.Talks are underway with the contractors over a start date but the council says the road will stay open while road marking is carried out.
