Item 4.4 - Traffic - 7/09/18
N O R T H S Y D N E Y C O U N C I L
To the General Manager
Attach: 1. Proposed Parking Changes
SUBJECT: (4.4) Wilson Street, Cammeray – Resident Parking Survey Results
AUTHOR: Report of Traffic & Transport Engineer, Nathan Wu
DESCRIPTION/SUBJECT MATTER:
Council has received representations on behalf of residents in Wilson Street concerning traffic
and parking issues at the entry/exit of Wilson Street, and garbage trucks access issue due to
vehicles parked on both sides of the street in the narrow sections.
Following investigation and consultation with Council’s Waste Service Team, two options are
being proposed to address the concerns being raised.
A survey regarding the above proposal was sent out on 17 July 2018 to 68 residents and
property owners. The survey was also published online. The residents were given until 13
August 2018 to respond. A total of 38 responses were received. This represents a response rate
of 55.9%. This is a relatively good response rate for traffic related surveys.
The answers received from the residents and property owners are summarised in the report.
Recommended changes to the parking restrictions are also detailed in the report.
RECOMMENDATION:
1. THAT No Stopping ‘6am-1pm on Mondays and Fridays’ be installed on the eastern side of
Wilson Street between No.1 Wilson Street and Carter Street, and opposite property No.14
Wilson Street as per attached plan.
2. THAT Council Rangers be requested to patrol Wilson Street to enforce any illegal parking
behaviour.
3. THAT the affected residents be notified prior to the implementation of the parking changes.
Report of Traffic Report of Traffic & Transport Engineer, Nathan Wu
Re: Wilson Street – Parking Survey Results
(2)
CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS
Consultation has been undertaken in accordance with Council's Community Egnagement
Protocol
Standard or Guideline Used: AS2890.5; AS1742.11; NSC Resident Parking Permit Policy
Signs & Lines Priority: 2
Precinct and Ward: The Plateau/Tunks
Impact on Bicycles: Nil
Impact on Pedestrians: Nil
Impact on Parking: Some changes to parking restrictions are proposed as outlined in the
report.
DETAIL
Council surveyed the residents and property owners in Wilson Street with regard to two options
for the pinch points along Wilson Street between property No.1 and Carter Street, and opposite
property No.14:
1. No Stopping ‘6am-1pm on Mondays and Fridays’ (waste collection times)
2. Full-time No Stopping
Survey Results
A total of 68 surveys were sent out on 17 July 2018. The survey was also published online. The
residents were given until 13 August 2018 to respond. A total of 41 responses were received.
This represents a response rate of 55.9%. This is a relatively good response rate for traffic
related surveys.
The answers received from the survey are summarised in the following table.
Q1. Eastern side of Wilson Street between
Carter Street and No.1 Wilson Street
Q2. Eastern side of Wilson Street opposite
No.14 Wilson Street
In favour of
Part-time
No Stopping
In favour of
Full-time
No Stopping
Oppose to
either
options
In favour of
Part-time
No Stopping
In favour of
Full-time
No Stopping
Oppose to
either
options
Resident/
business 12 11 8 18 8 5
Anonymous 1 1
Outside of the
survey area 1 3 1 3
TOTAL 13 12 11 19 9 8
36.1% 33.3% 30.6% 52.8% 25.0% 22.2%
Note: duplicate and unrelated responses were excluded from the final result.
Report of Traffic Report of Traffic & Transport Engineer, Nathan Wu
Re: Wilson Street – Parking Survey Results
(3)
Comments received
Respondents were asked to provide general comments/feedback as desired. Comments have
been grouped by emerging themes.
No Stopping on the eastern side of Wilson St between property No.1 and Carter Street
Responses in favour of the Part-time No Stopping
It seems every second week the rubbish cannot be collected so to restrict the parking on
Monday and Friday would be fantastic. The street is very short of parking so we are in favour
of only restricting it on those days.
Parking on the street has always been difficult, but it has become considerably worse since the
cafe opened on the corner of Carter St. Nevertheless, problems for the garbage trucks access
have become noticeable this year mostly due to the major renovations and additions being
conducted at no 20 and large tradesmen's vehicles being parked on both sides of the street.
Parking at the corner of Wilson Street and Carter Street has significant impact on the safety of
traffic entering or exiting Wilson St as well as the safety of children and others crossing Wilson
Street. Visibility is significantly affected by parking within the 10m statutory No Stopping zone
on both sides of the road.
My garage is in Wilson Lane. "Lower Wilson St". It is getting so hard to get our sometimes
with so many cars in Wilson St. Not to mention Building goes on in Wilson St & truck parked
as well.
Responses in favour of the Full-time No Stopping
With cafe parking at the bottom of the street and commuter parking further up the street (on
both sides) it is impossible for garbage trucks to reverse up the street. But garbage truck access
is not the only requirement. Delivery trucks and most importantly emergency vehicles need to
be able to drive to the end of the street AND do a U-turn to exit the street. If they can't do a U-
turn, then they need to be able to reverse all the way up to the end of the street or all the way
down the street. Thus, full time 'no stopping' in those Zones is essential.
The waste collection days are not the only time this problem occurs. Several tradesmen trucks
and delivery vehicles enter the street all hours of the day. Visibility for cars entering and
exiting, is non-existent when vehicles are parked on both sides of the street, as well as, the
corner at the end of Wilson Street and Carter Street. There is no space for two way traffic, and
is unfortunately an accident waiting to happen.
The street is too narrow to accommodate parking on both sides of the street. The spot where
the street bends slightly is particularly tight, when cars are parked at odd angles on both sides.
The surrounding streets all have 'no stopping' at the corners of their street, and they are all
wider with space for two way traffic.
Please note the residents' concerns about parked cars limiting access to Wilson Street include
potential problems of access for fire trucks and ambulances, as well as for garbage trucks,
tradesmens' trucks, and supermarket truck deliveries.
Report of Traffic Report of Traffic & Transport Engineer, Nathan Wu
Re: Wilson Street – Parking Survey Results
(4)
No Stopping on the eastern side of Wilson St opposite No.14 Wilson St
Responses in favour of the Part-time No Stopping
I favour resident only parking from 8 AM to 1 PM M-F on Wilson St.
Responses in favour of the Full-time No Stopping
Every day & time driving my land curser in And out of my garage with extreme difficulty firstly
the street opposite my house is narrow and secondly cars almost parking all times it very
frustration to navigate my way in and out of the garage without damaging the parking cars as
well some time we miss on waste collection because the parking cars.
Full time restrictions are required to ensure emergency vehicles etc are able to pass this
constriction. Also suggest that instead of no stopping, the signage be "No Parking" for
consistency with the conditions immediately to the north of No. 14.
We can't drive our car in and out of the garage when cars parking opposite the road.
Responses in favour of neither options
It is concerning for local businesses to lose more parking in an area with already limited
parking.
I believe #2 Wilson st has had their driveway approved so this will already lead to the loss of
two more car parking spaces permanently.
By making the spot on the Western side of Wilson St, between 8A Carter St and 2 Wilson St
(already a difficult to park spot where the kerb curves out/narrowest part) No Stopping Mon
& Fri mornings, as this will only be 1 car spot and will lead towards 2 Wilson Street’s future
driveway anyway. This option will lose the least amount of parking possible and impact local
businesses the least.
Firstly, there is already a draft plan for NorthSydney Council to widen Wilson Street,
Cammeray using that plot of land opposite and cafe where the postbox stands. Secondly, it is
unreasonable for the Council to allow businesses to set up and then restrict access to their
business by restricting access to parking when there is viable alternative i.e. widening the road.
The Alchemist Cafe is a significant local small business and community hub which Cammeray
sorely needs. I am concerned that imposing traffic restrictions will affect their business. There
is an opportunity for council to consider widening Wilson St and I’d encourage them to
consider this option, and to ensure they don’t affect the trade of Cammeray’s best local
business. We need to keep them here and thriving.
Your gonna kill the access to businesses on Carter St if you limit parking there for any duration.
"How about -
* road widening
* scheduling pick up outside of peak times
* changing pick up days to less business critical days, ie Monday’s and Thursday’s, and
enforcing a no parking zone on those days only"
Report of Traffic Report of Traffic & Transport Engineer, Nathan Wu
Re: Wilson Street – Parking Survey Results
(5)
I do not endorse any of the no stopping options given. I am in favour of the road reserve being
used for what is what supposedly intended “future road widening purposes” which will provide
resolution to the problem at hand while securing what limited parking we already have.
1. We wish to retain parking availability on both sides of the street 24/7 outside our property
for visitors, deliveries and trades services people. As the proposed changes are directly outside
our property we are the most impacted by any proposed changes.
2. We would not object a proposal for a no stopping being installed only on Friday mornings
but not for the booked collection on Mondays if there is no suitable alternative.
3. We suggest that Council look at placing parallel parking signs in the turning area in Wilson
Street as currently cars are parking front to kerb restricting turning ability.
4. If the pinch point is an issue then place no stopping signs on the area we have highlighted
on your picture as this should solve the problem in one go together.
This is more than a garbage issue it is also an emergency services (police, fire, ambulance)
issue all of the time. We do not need an entire section removed between Carter and No1 Wilson,
simply 1-2 spaces in the location of the pinch point namely at the Southern boundary of No.2
Wilson where the road kinks and narrows. This would then ensure the safety of the street, make
garbage collection possible and ensure there is enough parking for business (cafe and
physiotherapist) as well as residents by only restricting what is absolutely necessary.
We would also support simply doing a No Stopping area at the pinch point on the curve past
the cafe at 1 Wilson Street and shortening the parking area by a car length outside 16 Wilson
Street - both for 24 hours a day - which would increase the amount of parking on the street
compared to the current proposals put forward by the Council.
No Stopping for the single space previously identified on the curved part adjacent to No.1 (or
the single space opposite but not both). Prefer 6am to 1pm Mon & Fri only but full time would
be ok for just this single space.
"I oppose BOTH options in Question 1. There are better alternatives that have not been put
forward which will not negatively impact on resident parking AND a key local business (that
provides a valuable community service).
'No Stopping"" opposite the cafe will cause the loss of at least 4-6 parking spaces, thus pushing
parking congestion further up Wilson St, (even if only for garbage days). Many people other
than cafe patrons use Wilson St. for parking as it is the first street down the hill from the
Cammeray hub without timed parking.
Discussion
Based on the survey responses, the majority of respondents (77.8%) support the installation of
No Stopping restriction opposite No. 14 Wilson Street, with 19 (52.8%) of the respondents
support the part-time No Stopping.
However, there are split views on the provision of No Stopping restrictions on the eastern side
of Wilson Street between No.1 Wilson Street and Carter Street. 13 (36.1%) of the respondents
support the part-time No Stopping; 12 (33.3%) of the respondents support the full-time No
Stopping; and 11 (30.6%) respondents support neither options.
Report of Traffic Report of Traffic & Transport Engineer, Nathan Wu
Re: Wilson Street – Parking Survey Results
(6)
The main concerns of those respondents who support full-time No Stopping are access issues
for emergency and delivery vehicles other than garbage trucks, whereas the respondents
support the part-time No Stopping are happy to remove parking only on garbage collection
days. Of those respondents opposed to either options, the main concerns are the impact of the
parking loss on residents, visitors and accesses to the local businesses on the corner of Wilson
Street and Carter Street.
Several residents and business owners have suggested that if the proposed No Stopping zone
could be reduced to one or two spaces only at the narrowest section of the road or only to apply
on one day, or to have the road widened. It should be noted that, the proposed length of the No
Stopping zone was determined following consultation with Council’s Waste Services and
Garbage Collection Operators.
Council’s Waste Services were further consulted following the resident survey. They have
indicated that they would still prefer the current proposal and provided the following
comments:
“URM services Wilson St on Monday’s for vegetation and bulk item collection on alternate
weeks and on Friday’s for general waste and recycling services, as you are aware it is difficult
for these vehicles to gain access due to cars parking on the “kink point” outside number 2 and
directly opposite.
It is most difficult if these cars are not parked closely into the kerb, if the vehicles are parked
out from the kerb or on an angle it makes it almost impossible for the collection vehicles to
pass and service this street, some of the vehicles parked this way are larger ute type vehicles.
It is not viable for Council to keep requesting the URM vehicles return to Wilson St and finding
there is still no access.
URM services Wilson St twice on Friday’s, the 1st collection is early morning for waste then
returning later in the morning or early afternoon for the recycling service.”
Conclusion
Given that the majority of respondents were in favour of the introduction of part-time No
Stopping restrictions, it is recommended that No Stopping ‘6am-1pm on Mondays and Fridays’
be installed on the eastern side of Wilson Street between No.1 Wilson Street and Carter Street,
and opposite property No.14 Wilson Street,
It was noted in the survey responses that concerns were raised with the safety and traffic flow
on the corner of Wilson Street and Carter Street due to illegal practices such as double parking
or stopping at the intersection to collect coffee from the cafe. It is recommended that Council
Rangers be requested to patrol this location to enforce any illegal parking.
Additionally, there were concerns raised with the sight distance issues of cars exiting Wilson
Street onto Carter Street. Council has recently pruned the vegetation on the corner of the
intersection and installed Give Way lines to improve driver’s sightline and safety.
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Proposed Signage Plan